Another Korean journalist is heading to jail and yet the international media doesn’t seem to even care:
Another journalist, Woo Jong-chang (우종창, 63), is jailed in South Korea after being convicted of the “crime” of “libel” for announcing “false information.” On July 17, 2020, Judge Ma Seong-yeong (마성영) (with judges Kim Young-hwan 김영환 and Yoon Jeong-un 윤정운 on the team) of the Seoul Northern District Criminal Court sentenced journalist Woo Jong-chang to eight months in jail for libel and “Violation of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communication Network Utilization and Information Protection” and imprisoned him. When the sentence was announced, a woman sitting in the court yelled out, “Is this a dictatorship? How can this happen?”
Judge Ma Seong-yeong stated, “As a journalist, he did not even go through the process of confirming the minimum facts and forced false information through broadcasting.”
East Asia Research Center
I highly recommend that everyone read the whole article from Dr. Tara O at the link. If what Woo reported on his Youtube channel from a tip he received is true it would be very problematic for the Blue House.
However, could you imagine what would happen to the U.S. news media if every tip they reported on led to them being prosecuted for libel and put in jail?
Another Korean journalist has been sent jail:
Sung Sang-hoon (성상훈), a journalist who runs the Global Defense News (글로벌디펜스뉴스) YouTube channel and website, was arrested and jailed on May 13, 2020.
His “crime” was saying the Chinese man, who fell over and died in early February in front of a public health clinic, may have died of Coronavirus. The suppression of YouTubers and journalists already began under the Moon administration, including demonetizing many of them, but some expect it will get worse, especially since the ruling party has won by a landslide in the April 2020 general election, which is itself a huge controversy in South Korea. While many YouTubers are covering the election fraud issue extensively, the mainstream media hardly prints or broadcasts this issue.
East Asia Research Center
I recommend reading the whole article at the link, but essentially Sung was jailed because he questioned whether a Korean-Chinese man who fell over and died in front of a clinic had coronavirus. He was trying to make the point that the Chinese brought the coronavirus to South Korea which the Moon administration has made efforts to deny.
Because of his statement he was sued for libel by the Pyeongtaek mayor who is part of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. So like other journalists sued with libel laws he was arrested and jailed.
Could you imagine what the reaction in the media around the world would be if President Trump started jailing journalists, yet the international media has had zero interest in journalists being jailed in South Korea.
Journalist Byun Hee-jai is released from jail on bail in #SouthKorea. Actually he protested the very restrictive bail conditions, which would've prevented him from prepping to defend himself & refused to leave, so they forced him out of jail.https://t.co/aE6Q7wZMlx
— Tara O (@DrTaraO) May 17, 2019
Now 2 journalists in jail: Byun Hee-jae (2 yrs) & Hwang Ui-won (1 yr) for correctly pointing out JTBC's false reporting of "the tablet PC." The judge wasn't even interested in further discovery. They are in appeals now. Why are they in jail at all for libel? https://t.co/Lsh6E1ZEuU
— Tara O (@DrTaraO) March 20, 2019
Prosecutor Hong Seong-joon asked for 5 years jail for journalist Byun Hee-jai, already jailed prior to trial. For libel! This shouldn't be prosecuted at all, much less 5 yrs. Not guilty would delegitimize #MoonJaein govt. Breakdown in #RuleOfLaw. Suppression of #FreedomofthePress https://t.co/qhMbVnPgzT
— Tara O (@DrTaraO) December 5, 2018
The scandal involving President Moon Jae-in’s wife’s wardrobe has finally come to light, but the journalist that first began to document improprieties of the first lady was riddled with lawsuits from the Blue House for doing so:
It all began with a column published on June 11, 2019, in local newspaper the Joongang Ilbo, which pitted veteran journalist Nam Jeong-ho against the presidential office in a legal battle that lasted for two years.
Korea Times via a reader tip
In his column titled “First Lady Kim Jung-sook’s Bucket List?” he cautiously but unequivocally alleges that the first lady had made the most of the official overseas trips taken with her husband, President Moon Jae-in, as opportunities to explore some of the world’s renowned cultural heritage sites and museums on taxpayers’ money.
Nam said he was overwhelmed by what happened to him afterwards. He first received a letter from the presidential office urging him and his company to print corrections according to unusually lengthy and detailed guidelines. He ignored a letter from LKB & Partners, one of the nation’s top law firms which was representing the first lady. Weeks later they sued him, after the two sides failed to reach an agreement arranged by the Press Arbitration Committee.
Nam compares his legal battle against Cheong Wa Dae to a showdown akin to David and Goliath.
“I felt pressure (when I looked at the sender of the thick package of documents because I knew who they were),” Nam said in a phone interview with The Korea Times on Monday. “There were lots of naysayers around me and they encouraged me to do what Cheong Wa Dae asked me to do. They said Cheong Wa Dae would mobilize all the resources it could to win the battle.”
You can read more at the link, but Mr. Nam should consider himself lucky that he wasn’t thrown in jail like other Korean journalists critical of President Moon.
President Moon has fighting words for the doctors that have gone on strike this week:
South Korean President Moon Jae-in sent a warning message on Aug. 24 to physician groups that launched a collective strike to protest plans to create new public health colleges and raise the admissions cap for medical schools.
“We will have no choice but to respond sternly to the collective use of force in violation of the law, such as strikes and walkouts,” Moon said, describing the current situation as a “desperate moment where the number of people infected [with COVID-19] could skyrocket anywhere at any time if we let down our guard even a little.”Presiding over a meeting of senior secretaries and aides at the Blue House that day, Moon said, “We would like the medical community to refrain from collective action.
Collective action that holds the public’s life hostage will not gain support at a time when we need to be harnessing our national capacities to stop the virus from spreading.”“One can oppose or criticize government policy, but it cannot cross the line of what is lawful,” he stressed in his first public message directed at the Korea Intern Resident Association (KIRA). (………………..)
“A Level 3 upgrade is by no means an easy decision to make. Daily life would come to a stop, jobs would collapse, and we would have to suffer through a truly enormous economic setback. We could even see a collapse of the healthcare system.
Hankyoreh
If President Moon is so concerned about his doomsday scenario then why doesn’t he scrap his medical reform plan? Additionally Moon in the article also hinted at putting more journalists and protesters in jail that don’t agree with his administration:
”Moon further hinted at plans for a stern response toward obstruction of disease prevention efforts and the spreading of fake news, which he referred to as “antisocial criminal acts.”“No religious freedom, no freedom of assembly, no freedom of expression can be proclaimed if it means causing such enormous harm to the South Korean public,” he declared, adding that he would “clearly establish the strict fairness of public authorities.”
You can read more at the link.
I find it interesting that the Moon administration allows journalists that print facts to be arrested and languish in jail, but union allies that break the law they allow to go free:
Kim Myeong-hwan, the leader of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, a militant labor umbrella group, was released on bail Thursday, a week after being arrested on charges of masterminding assaults on police during outdoor rallies.
The Seoul Southern District Court approved Kim’s release on a bail of 100 million won ($86,360) but attached a condition under which he should only stay in his residence.
Kim was also ordered to obtain court approval before moving out of his residence or going on an overseas trip and to comply with a summons from the court.
The same court issued an arrest warrant last Friday for Kim, who was accused of overseeing violent illegal acts during KCTU members’ four protest rallies in front of the National Assembly compound on May 21 last year, as well as March 27 and April 2 and 3 this year.
During the protest rallies, labor activists knocked down parts of the fence surrounding the National Assembly in Seoul’s Yeouido, assaulted police officers, destroyed police equipment and attempted to force their way into the compound illegally to block the passage of labor bills, including those calling for extending statutory flextime from three to six months to minimize side effects of the government’s mandatory 52-hour workweek policy.
Korea Herald
You can read more at the link, but the KCTU who is well known for their violence, pro-Kim regime stance, and anti-Americanism vowed to launch massive protests against the Moon administration if Kim was not released. Sure enough Kim is released while journalists languish in jail.
You would think with such a discrepancy the international media would be all over this, but very few are reporting on this.
