CIVICUS, a global civil society alliance, is concerned about the erosion of civic freedoms since President Yoon Suk-yeol took office in May 2022, especially actions taken to stifle the media, freedom of expression and to target trade unions. These actions, highlighted in a brief published today, are inconsistent with commitments made by South Korea to the UN Human Rights Council. They also contravene its international human rights obligations guaranteed in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
More than two years after President Yoon was elected, press freedom has deteriorated in South Korea. The country has dropped in global press freedom rankings. There have been raids on media outlets such as Joongang Tongyang Broadcasting Company (JTBC) and online news outlet Newstapa as well as the homes of journalists. Defamation charges have also been filed against the media by Yoon’s administration and his political allies.
The restrictive National Security Act has been continuously used as a means to censor and cast a chilling effect on those who exercise their right to freedom of expression. In November 2023, the UN Human Rights Committee stated that it remains concerned about prosecutions under the law and in particular under the excessively vague wording of Article 7 that bans ‘praising or propagating activities of any anti-state organisation’.
“The Yoon government must halt its efforts to stifle the media and file defamation charges against journalists, just for undertaking their work. Instead, it should decriminalise defamation and end its harassment and intimidation of journalists. The authorities must also amend the National Security Act, so that it complies with international human rights law and is not used to harass, intimidate, arrest, or prosecute those peacefully exercising their rights to freedoms of opinion and expression,” said Josef Benedict, Asia researcher at CIVICUS.
CIVICUS is also alarmed about the harassment and intimidation of trade unions. Over the last two years, their offices have been raided by the police and National Intelligence Service (NIS) and some unionists have also been arbitrarily arrested. There have also been allegations of ill-treatment of trade unionists by the police. Unions have criticised President Yoon’s use of union-bashing rhetoric, to vilify them and put them at risk of attacks.
There are also concerns about the policing of protests in South Korea and restrictions in law and practice that are not consistent with international human rights law and standards. The UN Human Rights Committee stated in 2023 that the banning of a significant number of rallies to ensure the smooth flow of traffic, particularly in the vicinity of the President’s office, is not in conformity with the principles of proportionality and necessity.
“The authorities must put an end to the stigmatisation, interference and judicial harassment of trade unions, and instead foster an enabling environment for the exercise of their right to freedom of association. It must also adopt best practices on freedom of peaceful assembly and review the Assembly and Demonstration Act to ensure that protests are not restricted by law enforcement officials,” said Benedict.
As South Korea pursues membership of the UN Human Rights Council for the term 2025-2027 in October 2024 and seeks to be an advocate for democracy regionally and globally, it must take effective steps to improve its record on civic freedoms at home.
Download the South Korea research brief here.
Civic space in South Korea is rated ‘narrowed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor.
About the CIVICUS Monitor
Over twenty organisations collaborate on the CIVICUS Monitor to provide an evidence base for action to improve civic space on all continents. Civic freedoms in 198 countries and territories are categorised as either ‘closed,’ ‘repressed ,’ ‘obstructed ,’ ‘narrowed ’ or ‘open ,’ based on a methodology that combines several data sources on the freedoms of association, peaceful assembly and expression