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Country Summary
The South Korean government appeared content to allow the continued growth of a free press that began after South Korea’s return to elected civilian rule in 1993, after three decades of successive military-backed governments, and made few overt attempts to stem critical reporting. One notable exception was the Justice Ministry’s refusal in February to renew the visa of Australian Financial Review correspondent Bruce Cheesman, who had written an unflattering biography of President Kim Young Sam, as well as several articles that were critical of Kim. In an effort to control coverage of North Korea, Kim’s government announced in September that it would begin strictly enforcing the National Security Law (NSL), which provides for prison terms of up to seven years for those who “praise” or “benefit” North Korea, or engage in other ill-defined “anti-state” activities. The announcement followed a massive police crackdown on left-leaning students at Seoul’s Yonsei University.
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