Freedom of the Press Muzzled Again in South Korea: Shin In-kyun, a Youtuber and a Defense Analyst, Prevented from Appearing on Channel A
2018-12-2, Tara O
Shin In-kyun (신인균), a defense analyst with his own YouTube program, is prevented from appearing on Channel A’s program as of November 22, 2018. (Channel A is a cable TV channel.) Shin In-kyun has appeared on Channel A’s “News Top 10” program almost daily for the past year and 3 months. He has appeared on cable TV program for about 5 years (since 2013) and on regular TV for 8-9 years. He covers military issues. The program has been doing well, with about 3% viewership, which is considered good.
Shin explained on his YouTube program why he thinks he was blacklisted. On the Channel A show, he said the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) education/training program has recently been [portraying ] Japan as the “jujeok” (main enemy), rather than North Korea. He asked whether it made sense. North Korea has not denuclearized and South Korea is still confronting North Korea. The anchor tried to restrain his comments, because of concern about the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) and what it might do to Channel A. KCC has enormous power, because it has the power to issue and cancel TV/cable TV channel licenses. The current Chairman, of KCC is Choi Sung-joon, and like the national security advisor and some others, works directly for the president. KCC is subordinate to the Blue House, which is strongly influenced by the Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok.
In order to understand why Channel A was afraid of losing its license and stopped inviting Shin In-kyun to speak on their channel, it helps to understand a little bit of background about how the KCC regulates channels.
There is a non-governmental organization called Minju Eonlon Shimin Yeonhap (민주언론시민연합) or Mineonyeon (민언련) for short (Citizens’ Coalition for Democratic Media, http://www.ccdm.or.kr). This organization monitors conservative media. Their top TV/cable TV targets are Channel A and TV Chosun, the two remaining mainstream conservative media channels. (5:43) KCC uses this organization to monitor the media, because if it uses government organizations to monitor the media, it would be accused of suppressing freedom of the press. (5:30)
Mineonyeon monitors the media and once it discovers something it disapproves of, it sends the story to OhMyNews or MediaToday (미디어오늘) newspapers, which print the story. Then the KCC reviews the story and contacts the media company. Often, companies then get scared that the KCC might cancel their licenses. (6:55) Thus, Channel A banned Shin from appearing on its show for one month. Shin is not sure if the ban will be lifted after a month or not, or whether he should go back or not.
In order to fact check his story, Shin In-kyun examined the MND facebook page. He scrolled through the FB posts and hardly saw anything about North Korea; the posts were mainly about Japan.
Below are some specific examples of not mentioning North Korea but specifically calling out Japan.
June 25 (the date the Korean War began). The MND post stated “Today is the 68th anniversary of 6.25 (6.25 is how Koreans say Korean War). “Due to the noble sacrifice and devotion of South Korean military and the UN forces, today’s Republic of Korea exists. [We] thank the war veterans.” There was no mention of who they fought or what they fought for. There was no mention of North Korea or that it invaded South Korea. (9:30)
7.27 (Armistice Day). “Already 65 years after the creation of the DMZ after south and north stopped the war and concluded the ceasefire agreement. War and Contest. Thankfulness and attention. Tension and Peace. DMZ, which has various meanings for each person. The real look of the DMZ, which is rooted in sacrifices and devotion of many people, was quiet and peaceful. DMZ’s four seasons seen by writer Jeong Yeong-doo on the imagined and real demarcation line from the key observation posts in the DMZ from Goseong [on the east coast] to Gwanghwa [on the west coast]. We invite [you] to the <DMZ Theater>.” There was no mention of lessons learned, that South Korea must become stronger. (10:27)
11.17 (Patriotic Martyrs for the Country Day). “Today is the 79th anniversary of the Patriotic Martyrs for the Country Day, which must be remembered. Please remember the independence mindedness and sacrificing spirit of patriotic martyr who resisted the Japanese invasion and colonization. Without them, even our ordinary way of life we enjoy may not have existed.” Here, the MND did write who the martyrs were fighting against. (11:44)
There are more instances of the MND naming Japan as the enemy, while not mentioning North Korea as a threat. For more, see https://youtu.be/c_5nwTqoLeY
The Moon administration’s assault on freedom of the press continues.
