Foreign correspondents in South Korea worry about penalties in proposed law



The Seoul Foreign Correspondents Club warned Friday revisions to a media law in South Korea could interfere with press freedoms. File Photo by Yonhap

Aug. 20 (UPI) -- The Seoul Foreign Correspondents Club raised concerns about South Korean plans to pass a law that would allow heavier penalties to be imposed on news media organizations and journalists.

The group's board of directors said Friday in statement that the revision to the Press Arbitration Act "puts at risk the international image and free press environment that South Korea has built up over a long period of time" and allow powerful politicians to "affect the news gathering environment, for both domestic and foreign media."

Governing Democratic Party lawmakers have supported the amendment to South Korea's media law, citing the rise of disinformation in an age of digitization and online communications.

The correspondents' statement comes after the Democratic Party-led parliamentary committee on culture passed the revision without input from the main opposition conservatives, who staged a protest at the National Assembly on Thursday.

The law allows plaintiffs, including public figures, to sue reporters for five times the actual damages.

The correspondents' club said Friday that while the "damage caused by fake news" must be addressed, foreign correspondents are "concerned that this bill could result in a penny-wise and pound-foolish situation of undermining the basic rights of a democratic society."

The correspondents club was founded in 1956 three years after the end of the Korean War with nine members. The organization now includes 300 foreign correspondents, according to South Korean newspaper Maeil Business on Friday

The group also said that South Korea's democratization and industrialization have invited greater foreign media interest in the country over the decades, and Seoul is becoming an attractive hub for media.

"Many [organizations] noted the peaceful change of power through the candlelight protests, and the country's improved media environment and awareness," the statement read.

Musun Kim, a senior producer for Al Jazeera, said in a statement to Maeil Business that the revision would present obstacles to coverage. Kim said members have been asking about ways to resolve issues that could surface if the bill becomes law, the report said.

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The bill is expected to be discussed at the National Assembly this month, where the ruling party holds the majority.