1. Looking Glass
Consulting
SIS-645-E01L-E91L-2013XE International Communication & Cultural Policy
Affiliation: American University
E-Mail: oj9124a@student.american.edu
Web: http://southkoreaniccpolicy.wordpress.com
Toward A Greater Vision!
Monitoring the pattern and growth
of South Korea’s media
June 2013
Oloruntobi “IBK” Jaiyeola
Consultant, Looking Glass Group

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Copyright © Looking Glass Group 2013
Contents
Executive Summary 3
About the Client 4
Introduction: Korea’s Media Story 4
Expert Literature: Themes and Patterns 5
South Korea’s Timeline of Media Policies 5
Policy Analysis 8
Goals and Contradictions 8
Emerging Framework 8
Taking it Further: Future Work 9
Bibliography 10

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Looking Glass Consulting
Toward A Greater Vision: Monitoring the
pattern and growth of South Korea’s media
Executive Summary
As globalization takes new turns and many parts of the world experience new digital media
technologies, one of the countries at the forefront, and a fast-growing economy is South Korea.
In a region of fast growth, since the 1960s Korea has increased its per capita GDP more quickly
than any of its neighbors. One aspect of this growth is with its press freedom, which has varied
through the several periods of leadership. Since Japanese colonial rule, freedom of the press has
been more often restricted than protected by the laws and policies. There have been four main
features of press freedom since 1910: severe restriction during the Japanese colonial rule;
experiencing freedom with unstable democracy under the American military rule and the First
and Second republics; oppression of the military regimes; and the struggle with capital power
since the beginning of civilian government – despite the plurality of mediums today. These
different regimes have influenced the structure of Korean society and the media politically,
economically, socially and culturally.
The report is designed for MediACT, an organization established in 2002 by the South
Korean government, which supports alternative and independent film and video production. The
organization once faced shutdown in 2008 by then president Lee Myung-bak’s administration.
Looking Glass' Oloruntobi “IBK” Jaiyeola offers probing looks at these issues and provides an
analysis of the country’s historical framework and the contradictions of current Internet policies
on the technological growth of the nation, and suggests further work for critical citizens’ media
monitoring movements, and the mediascape and cultural sector.

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Copyright © Looking Glass Group 2013
About the Client
MediACT is a public local media access center located in Seoul, South Korea. It
was established in 2002 by the Korean government to help train and prepare the
Korean population for the digital media age by supporting alternative and
participatory media activities, including (a) independent film making, (b) the
establishment of public access structures in tandem with media policy
development, and (c) activation of systematic media education and its
continuation as a lifelong process (Kim, 2011).
Introduction: Korea’s Media Story
South Korea is a media-rich country that consists of several different types of public
communication of news: television, radio, cinema, newspapers, magazines, and Internet-based
Web sites, with television as the most influential and pervasive (BBC, 2012). It is also one of the
world’s leading consumers of new communication technologies, which is changing the
environment of communication and news reporting. This digital revolution is the catalyst of our
focus policy, and an object for concern for conservative parties in the country who advocate
tighter control. As the country has navigated through authoritarian rule, from the Japanese
colonial government, to its current civilian rule, which included administrations like Moo-Hyun
Roh who passed the Newspaper Law and the Press Arbitration Law in January 2005 to
emphasize the social responsibilities of the media to the general public and respect pluralism (Sa,
2009). This report will review the timeline of South Korea’s leadership and the themes of the
media policies from each era. Including the past South Korean administration of Lee Myung-bak
and its initiation of laws to control Internet activists from criticizing the government. The focus
of analysis is the administration’s decision to replace the country’s Internet regulatory body
Information and Communication Ethics Committee (ICEC) with another administrative body,

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Looking Glass Consulting
Toward A Greater Vision: Monitoring the
pattern and growth of South Korea’s media
the Korean Communications Standards Commission (KCSC) whose job it is to regulate Internet
content, and allegedly defamatory content against the government. Finally, we will discuss the
emerging model and framework, and the recommendations for MediACT as a part of this digital
industry.
Expert Literature: Themes and Patterns
South Korea’s Timeline of Media Policies
I. Colonial Period (1910-1945)
In 1910, the Governor-General of Korea assumed direct control of the press and public
institutions through the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty. Nearly a decade after, the 1919 March
1st Movement, led the Japanese colonial government to loosen their restrictive control over
cultural activities and permit several Korean newspapers to function while maintaining some
covert control over politically sensitive topics (The Library of Congress, 1990). Later on in 1926,
the movie Arirang was made and became the most famous of the nationalistic films of its time.
The movie premiered with a stir, and its promotion was heavily censored, prompting the Golden
Age of Silent Film in Korea. As the use of sound and increased in Korean films, so did
repression by the Japanese. From 1930 until 1935 the Japanese allowed only two or three films a
year to be made, and by 1942 the Japanese closed all ten Korean film companies and established
the Choson Film Co., Ltd. The goal of their propaganda films was to create the impression that
Koreans no longer existed, and that they were Japanese (Marshall, 1997). Around this period of
the 1920s, Korean vernacular newspapers, such as Donga Ilbo, and intellectual journals such as
Kaebyok (Creation), experienced clashes with Japanese censors because they were running

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Copyright © Looking Glass Group 2013
articles opposing the Japanese military, and by 1941, all Korean-language publications became
outlawed (The Library of Congress, 1990).
II. The American Military rule, the First and Second republics (1945~1961)
After the liberation from Japanese rule, the US Military Government temporarily ruled South
Korea from 1945-48. Under this temporary leadership, the Korean media experienced freedom
with unstable democracy, a flourishing of newspapers and
periodicals with occasional censorship (SA, 2009). During the First
republic, the constitution followed an America-oriented
Presidential system, stating that all Korean people shall have no
restrictions on freedom of the press, freedom of publication, freedom of
assembly and freedom of association except by Law. However, the Korean government, under
President Syng-Man Rhee, outlawed leftist newspapers (The Library of Congress, 1990). Around
this time during the Korean War, much of the country's film infrastructure was destroyed and the
center of the industry moved to Busan. Many filmmakers became involved in shooting newsreels
and war documentaries. In 1953, after the ceasefire President Rhee declared cinema exempt from
all tax, in hopes of reviving the industry (Paquet, 2007).
The Second Republic guaranteed freedom of the press under Premier Myon Chang. There were
no conditions placed on the freedom of the people and rights of the people except for the public
good and order. This was the greatest freedom for the press in Korean history, and so the number
of newspapers publications increased. With the plurality of publications came the diversity of
content and quality, and many members of society saw unqualified people in media companies
abuse the press power as media owners and journalists. On May 16th
, 1961 General Chung-Hee
Park carried out a military coup d’état that ended this press freedom (Sa, 2009).
This was the
greatest
freedom for the
press in Korean
history.

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Looking Glass Consulting
Toward A Greater Vision: Monitoring the
pattern and growth of South Korea’s media
III. The military regimes (1961~1987)
There were severe restrictions to freedom of the press under the military regimes of Chung-Hee
Park and Doo-Hwan Chun. Nonetheless, the media gained new freedom regarding non-political
and non-sensitive social content, which created a soft news and sensationalism trend in the
media. These regimes directly controlled the media through mainly censorship and manipulation,
as a means of maintaining power. There was a reorganization of media companies, either through
mergers or closures, creating oligopolies. Many journalists who opposed this regime were fired
and banned from writing (Sa, 2009). The latter half of the 1950s is part of the Golden Age of
Korean Cinema with increasing number of domestic productions. However in 1962, Chung Hee
Park instituted a highly constrictive Motion Picture Law which also caused severe consolidation
in the number of film companies, and which strengthened government control over all aspects of
the industry. This was beneficial for more accomplished films, but stifling for the overall
industry's creativity (Paquet, 2007).
IV. Civilian governments (1988~present)
Most of the Korean media have enjoyed freedom of the press under the civilian governments.
However, despite its plurality and diversity, there has been the struggle with capital power as
major conservative newspapers do not want social changes because they want to keep their
power and property, making any attempt at reform difficult (Sa, 2009). The past administration
of Lee Myung-bak was criticized for oppressing the electronic media, especially, the broadcast
and Internet media, and is rated partly free by Freedom House (Freedom House, 2012).
Currently, Korean Cinema is gaining international recognition, although it is still overshadowed
by Hollywood.

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Copyright © Looking Glass Group 2013
Policy Analysis
Goals and Contradictions
South Korea is a world leader in Internet and broadband penetration, however this does not
ensure access to free and unfiltered Internet for citizens. South Korea’s government continues to
regulate specific online content and imposes a substantial level of censorship on politically
charged discourse on websites that the government considers subversive or socially harmful,
such as matters that offer sentiments towards North Korea. Some may find the government’s
actions contradictory considering the level of government spending that went into establishing
these infrastructures in the first place. In 2007, numerous bloggers were censored, arrested, and
had their posts deleted by police for expressing criticism of, or even support for, certain
presidential candidates. Subsequently in 2008, just before a new presidential election, new
legislation that required all major Internet portal sites to require identity verification of their
users was put into effect (Kim, 2008). Besides the financial contradictions of investing in
technological growth and limiting potential, also comes political and cultural contradictions like
censorships on industries like the arts, as well as the duality of the nature of reconciliation with
North Korea. At the present, South Korea has become a heavily polarized democracy as a result
of these policies.
Emerging Framework
South Korea has enjoyed some freedom for the years under civilian rule leading up to Myung-
bak’s administration. The problems that continue to plague this country are the instabilities in the
laws, and the impunity with which the government manipulates them. The consolidation of
powers from the military regimes still slightly influences the structures today. Based on this, we

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Looking Glass Consulting
Toward A Greater Vision: Monitoring the
pattern and growth of South Korea’s media
can deduce that the country best resembles the Nationalist-Cultural model, which combines
elements of national interests (for example, restriction North Korean sentiments) and cultural
sovereignty. This best suits South Korea as a somewhat authoritarian non-western democratic
state (Class Lecture on Global Communication Policy Models, May 2013).
Taking it Further: Future Work
This paper examined the themes of South Korea’s media policy through the nation’s history, and
emphasizing the pattern and the implication on the current structure, which is that despite being a
democracy, there are still indications of the authoritarian regime that plague the country. For an
organization dedicated to raising South Korea’s media literacy and cultural awareness like
MediACT, we are aware that this censorship extends beyond a political sphere; it is also cultural
and social, which is quite similar to the Japanese colonial regime. We recommend further
research on national perceptions of the government’s restrictions on media engagement. Also
since we juxtaposed this research with the Korean cinema evolution, we recommend further
work on the use of artistic propaganda in the industry to tackle the online censorship. The
Korean cinema successfully transitioned from censorship to promotion by highlighting its
relevance to national and economic interests, and the digital revolution is undergoing the
growing pains of overcoming some conservative policies. MediACT has been a victim of near
shutdown by the government in the past (APC, 2010), and it remains relevant for media
education to defend freedom of the press and the television audience’s right to quality
programmes.

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Copyright © Looking Glass Group 2013
Bibliography
American Memory from the Library of Congress. Accessed June 23, 2013.
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+kr0143).
BBC News. "South Korea profile - Media." Accessed June 20, 2013.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15291415.
Kim, Hyung-eun. "Do new Internet regulations curb free speech? ." korea joongang daily.
http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2893577
Kim, M. J. "MediACT (Korea)." In Encyclopedia of Social Movement Media, edited by John
D.H. Downing, 328-31. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2011. doi:
10.4135/9781412979313.n143.
Kwak/Korea Economic Institute, Ki-sung. "Broadcasting Deregulation in South Korea."
Academic Paper Series 0n Korea 3, no. 1 (2010): 81-93. Accessed June 22, 2013.
http://keia.org/publication/broadcasting-deregulation-south-korea.
Marshall, Jon. "A Brief History of Korean Film." Pusanweb | Busan (Pusan) Korea Classifieds
Forums, Guides, & Media. Last modified October, 1997.
http://www.pusanweb.com/Exit/Oct97/briefhist.htm.
Paquet, Darcy. "A Short History of Korean Film." Koreanfilm.org - Movie reviews, news, actor
info and more from Korea. Accessed June, 2013.
http://www.koreanfilm.org/history.html.
Sa, Eun Suk. "Development of Press Freedom in South Korea since Japanese Colonial Rule."
Asian Culture and History 1, no. 2 (2009): 15.
http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ach/article/view/3045.
"South Korean gov't threatens public media centre MediAct - join the protest | Association for
Progressive Communications." Association for Progressive Communications | Internet
for social justice and sustainable development. http://www.apc.org/en/news/south-
korean-govt-threatens-public-media-centre-me.

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Looking Glass Consulting
Toward A Greater Vision: Monitoring the
pattern and growth of South Korea’s media
Shim, Doobo. 2002. "South Korean Media Industry in the 1990s and the Economic Crisis."
Prometheus 20, no. 4: 337-350. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed June
23, 2013).
Venturelli, S. (2013, May). Global Media, Convergence Culture and Audiences . International
Communications. Lecture conducted from American University, Washington DC.