As
S. Korea
Cracks Down on
Questioning of
Park,
Ban's UN
Notably Silent
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 31 -- A
recent and
ongoing press
freedom case
in
South Korea
has echoed all
the way to the
UN in New
York. UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon was a
long-time
South Korean
diplomat
before taking
up his UN
post. But he
has been
notably quiet
about
press freedom
generally, and
now
strikingly,
with regard to
South
Korea.
The
government in
Seoul has
summoned
Sankei
Shimbun's
Tatsuya Kato
on
possible
charges of
defaming
President Park
Geun-hye, and
has blocked
him from
leaving South
Korea in the
interim.
At
issue is an
article that
Tatsuya Kato
wrote and
Sankei Shimbun
published,
citing the
South Korean
publication
Chosun Ilbo,
that
during the
sinking of the
Sewol ferry in
April,
President Park
was
not seen for
seven hours
and may have
been trysting
with a
recently
divorced
former aide.
While
understandably
causing anger,
such a report
should not
trigger travel
bans or
criminal
charges.
It
is
particularly
troubling that
while Tatsuya
Kato of
Japan's Sankei
has been
targeted, the
South Korean
publication
Chosun Ilbo
from
which he
quoted is not
being
targeted. This
disparate
treatment of
journalists,
based on
nationality or
other factors,
should not be
tolerated.
As
a comparison,
when
Afghanistan
recently
imposed a
similar travel
ban
on a New York
Times
reporter, not
only the US
State
Department but
also many
others spoke
out.
But
when at the UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman was
twice --
three times,
actually --
asked about
South Korea's
treatment of
Sankei
Shimbun's
Tatsuya Kato,
only
platitudes
emerged.
Continuing
the trend on August
31, Ban
Ki-moon's
comment on the
coup in
Lesotho
did not
mention that
the military
took over the
television and
radio
stations
there.
The
day's
New York Times
recounted how
South Korean
artist Hong
Sung-dam
had his
painting
depicting Park
Geun-hye and
his view of
her role in
the sinking of
the Sewol
ferry censored
by authorities
in Gwangju.
Some
including the
new Free
UN Coalition
for Access,
an
anti-censorship
alliance
established at
the UN during
and counter to
Ban Ki-moon's
time in
control, have
noted a trend
toward
ignoring some
attacks on
the media. How
far back does
it go? What
will happen in
South Korea,
and at the UN?
Watch this
site.
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