[Asia Economy Reporter Shinwon Yoon] In the World Press Freedom Index, which compares the degree of realization of 'freedom of the press,' Norway ranked first, and South Korea ranked 42nd.
According to the '2020 World Press Freedom Index' report released on the 21st by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an international press watchdog, South Korea dropped one spot from 41st last year to 42nd this year.
South Korea's press freedom violation score improved from 24.94 last year to 23.70, but Italy, which was 43rd last year, overtook South Korea by moving up to 41st, causing South Korea to fall in the rankings.
South Korea recorded 31st place in 2006 but dropped 40 places to 70th in 2016 over ten years. However, it recovered to 63rd in 2017, 43rd in 2018, and 41st last year.
According to the Asia-Pacific regional analysis report, "In countries where democracy is stable, governments sometimes use national security as a pretext to suppress press freedom," and "South Korea has a law (National Security Act) that severely punishes the publication of information deemed sensitive, especially related to North Korea."
Among Asian countries, South Korea ranked first, Taiwan dropped one spot to 43rd, and Hong Kong, which was evaluated to have experienced a contraction of press freedom during pro-democracy protests last year, fell seven places to 80th. Japan rose one spot to 66th, and China remained at 177th.
North Korea, which received positive evaluations for open gestures including the 2018 North Korea-U.S. summit, rose one spot to 179th last year but returned to the bottom rank of 180th this year.
The United States, known as the birthplace of democracy, rose three spots to 45th.
Nordic countries maintained their lead in press freedom. Norway held first place for the fourth consecutive year, and Finland maintained second place as last year. Denmark rose two spots to rank third, followed by Sweden (4th), the Netherlands (5th), Jamaica (6th), Costa Rica (7th), Switzerland (8th), New Zealand (9th), and Portugal (10th).
Reporters Without Borders forecasted in the report that "the COVID-19 pandemic will threaten press freedom and deepen the crisis facing the global press, and the coming decade will be a testing ground that will determine the future of journalism."
They analyzed that the five crises causing the overall crisis of the press include the geopolitical crisis caused by attacks from authoritarian regimes, the technical crisis due to lack of democratic guarantees, the democratic crisis caused by polarization and oppressive policies, the crisis of trust in the press due to suspicion and hatred, and the economic crisis destroying quality journalism, with the global public health crisis caused by COVID-19 added on top.
Christophe Deloire, Secretary-General of Reporters Without Borders, emphasized, "Authoritarian governments are using the public health crisis as an opportunity to implement the notorious 'shock doctrine' policies," and "To prevent the coming decisive decade from becoming a disaster, anyone with good intentions must step forward to enable journalists to perform their role as trusted third parties in society, and journalists must be equipped to fulfill that role."
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