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Korean editor, publisher battle harassment

By Dae-joong Kim Posted Jan 1 2002

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It had been 82 days since the Kim Dae-jung's administration jailed Mr. Bang Sang-Hoon, the publisher of the Chosun Ilbo; the incarceration epitomizes the current regime's suppression of press freedom in Korea. There is no doubt that the Chosun Ilbo was targeted by the regime because it relentlessly criticized the regime's policies. No one can deny the fact the the Chosun Ilbo was unjustly and unfairly targeted: Bank accounts of 250 individuals out of 811 employed in the Chosun Ilbo were searched; in all, 30,000 bank accounts that had any relationship with the newspaper company were thoroughly investigated; the National Tax service levied an outrageous sum of US$66 million dollars on the Chosun Ilbo; out of that amount, the NTS levied US$50 million dollars on the newspaper for evading the “donation tax” on extra free copies, which is unprecedented.

The government undertook the harshest ever tax investigation and put Mr. Bang in jail, believing that Mr. Bang was critical of the Sunshine policy. He stated in court,'Before the tax probe by National Tax Service early this year, I have received several complaints from various government sources about editorials and columns that were critical of government policies, including the so-called 'Sunshine Policy”. ...it was suggested or sometimes requested that I rearrange personnel within the Chosun Ilbo. These people pinpointed by the government were journalists who were critical of the government on many issues. I, however, declined all those proposals and decided to protect journalists and columnists from any threats. ...I am willing to face any kind of hardships regarding this case because I believe in the press freedom.

The day before Mr. Bang was arrested, I said to him, “I am very sorry that you are being arrested because of me.” He replied, “If I agreed to their demands, I would have taken your pen away and I would not be in this situation. This is a game not between you and me, but between them and me.”

This administration tenaciously tried to disgrace several journalists critical of the administration. In my case, the NTS searched all my families' bank accounts including my children's for the past 10 years. The bank notified me several months after the search took place. According to the law, banks must notify their customers if the government searches their accounts but they can withhold the information until the government finishes investigation.

After arresting Mr. Bang, the Prosecutor's Office summoned me to appear in its office. The official reason the Prosecutor's Office gave was that it needed my testimony, whether I agreed to let the Chosun Ilbo use my name for tax evasion and whether I aided the owners in amassing slush funds. Since this information was already provided to the Prosecutor's Office, I offered to submit written documents to answer any questions. According to the law in Korea, a witness, unlike a suspect, does not have to appear at the Prosecutor's Office if he/she doesn't want to.

However, the Prosecutor's Office kept on demanding that I appear at its office because it had every intention to disgrace me in public as a criminal. Some pro-government media painted me as a criminal even before it charged me.

So I wrote my 'farewell' column and submitted my resignation to the management. The Prosecutor's Office inevitably indicted Mr. Bang without my testimony or my appearance in its Office.

Mr. Bang was released on bail on November 6th. But it's not over yet. There will be no compromise about freedom of press, no remorse, nor apologies. History will judge whether we have done the right thing or not.

The day Mr. Bang gets himself out of this injustice, I will boastfully take him to a bar that is frequently visited by the powerful, the very people who put Mr. Bang in jail.