South Korea: Media System Overview

Completely unlike North Korea, South Korea is a friendly and open market for the mass media industry with its dynamic economy and media consumption rates. The population of Korea shows active participation of both traditional and new media. The literacy rate is 99%, the educated public supports the freedom of media; however the system is not entirely democratic, it shows also the signs of censorship and restriction imposed on media outlets. This has to do with the politics and history of the country.  Historically, the country has been through  Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945), U.S. military government (1945-1948), Korean War (1950-1953), military dictatorship (1961-1992), the beginning of civilian government since 1993. However the military education is a requirement for young men, which shows the country is aware of dangers North Korea can cause.   Let’s look closer at the system of South Korean Media.

Newspapers and Printed Press

The country has eleven general-interest national dailies, dominating the print media. They are all published in Seoul. These dailies offer gifts to potential subscribers and supported by commercials. The Big Three general-interest national dailies – Chosun Ilbo, Dong-a Ilbo, and Joong-ang Ilbo – sell about 1.5 million to 1.8 million copies each. These three publications have mainstream conservative orientation and considered to be prestigious newspapers. Theres is also a second group of newspapers (Hankyoreh, Seoul Shinmun, and Kyunghyang Shinmun) with more of  central-left in their editorial orientation. They are very progressive publications, but have a much smaller circulation, about 400,000 copies each. From local dailies Busan Ilbo and the (Daegu) Maeil Shinmun are very powerful in their respective provinces. Totlly there are 290 dailies, including the dailies in English and Chinese. There eight business dailies, three sports dailies, and a few focusing on other issues.   The Big Three I mentioned above are actually huge media complexes that publish news magazines, monthly magazines, other periodicals that focus on fashion, literature, outdoors, etc.   There is a national news agency functioning in South Korea, Youhap.

Radio and Television

Every household at least owns one TV set, the market is very saturated and vibrant. The three major networks are KBS (Korean Broadcasting System, public-service television), MBC (Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation, operating commercially but legally required to be public television), and SBS (Seoul Broadcasting System, commercial television). Also on air is a fourth network, EBS (Educational Broadcasting System), which specializes in instructional programming.   Cable TV is available in 77% of Korean households, carries around 120 channels. Television standards were completely transferred from analog to digital at the end of 2012. Radios are available everywhere, has various programs ranging from general broadcasting, music to religious services.   The three major television networks are counterparts of the Big Three print press organizations. They play a big role during election times, they compete on news reporting. The most popular television program genre watched by many people in the country is soap opera or dorama. Many TV series made in South Korea became popular all over East Asia.The KBS network has been continually controversial for its public service mission. The freedom of their opinions is undermined by the political regime, so the station is considered to be biased. The president of South Korea has power over the Big Three networks, and the news broadcast is practically controlled and regulated. More about that you can read in  the article “Communication Law and Policy: Asia”.   There were multiple strikes by the journalists who asked for the freedom of speech and did not wanted to be influenced by ruling power of the country. More on that issue you can find here.

New Media and the Internet

According to Internet usage, broadband and telecommunications reports South Korea has  48,636,068 Internet users as of June, 2010, it is 81.1% of the population, according to ITU. Since the start of commercial services in 1994, the Internet population has been steadily increasing to a point where it is now nears the penetration rate of mobile phones. South Korea is a very innovative and progressive country in terms of technology penetration and availability. Nationally, about 77 percent of the population aged six and over use Internet-related services. By 2009, the Internet-based media, plus cable television, had become an equally ranked competitor in capturing a major share of the national advertising market (27 percent), as against the traditional print media and the broadcast media, which had 28 percent each.

Still, there is a digital divide for Internet users, according to sex, region and age.

• The survey also showed that Internet usage stands at 74.4 percent for men, compared with 62 percent of women.
• With 30.67 million Net surfers, according to the report, Korea became the fifth country in the world to join the 30 million club, following the United States, China, Japan and Germany.
• More than 45 percent of respondents said they are a member of at least one Internet community and 37.1 percent of use instant messaging.
• Korean Internet users spend an average of 11.5 hours a week on the Web, an hour less than six months ago. Seventy-three percent surf mainly to search for information, 54 percent play online games and 33 percent use e-mail.
• More than 95 percent of those aged 6 to 29 periodically go online, compared with 86.4 percent of those in their thirties, 58.3 percent of people in their forties and just 27.6 percent of those in their fifties.
• South Korea has the highest number of broadband connections per capita in the world. By early 2005, around 25% of the population, or 75% of households, were broadband subscribers.
• South Korea is considered a leader in Third generation (3G) mobile technology and has the world’s highest percentage of mobile users on 3G.

South Korea is a home of two leading electronic manufacturers: Samsung Corporation and LG Group. They use their home base to test new innovations in electronics.   Independent online newspapers – numbering around 260 as of mid-2006 – also flourish, sometimes posing competition to the mainstream media’s online service. The concept of citizen reporters is growing in South Korea. One of them, OhmyNews (www.ohmynews.com,english.ohmynews.com), is recognized as a leading model of this genre in the relevant global arena.

Systemic Issues

South Korea, despite of their technological and infrastructural progress, still has issues in the media field. Since many large media companies are family owned, they follow certain traditional outlook on the journalistic ethics. The ruling power undermined constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech.   Another ethical issue in South Korean newsroom is corrupting and bribery. The cases when journalists receive gifts for news coverage or keeping certain news secret. Popular television anchors and influential politics editors can abuse their connection and power and turn to politics. But, structurally speaking, South Korea’s system of ethical control should be airtight, as it has not just one but two separate institutional devices: the Korea Press Ethics Commission, run as a voluntary press council, and the Press Arbitration Commission.   Sources: International Encyclopedia of Communication. Korea. Internet usage, broadband and telecommunications reports