Asia
Satire in South Korea
Sneaky tricksters, unite!
Jan 16th 2012, 7:51 by D.T. | SEOUL
ACCORDING to our sister organisation, the Economist Intelligence Unit, South Korea ranks as the world’s 22nd strongest democracy, and as the second strongest in Asia. Its mainstream media, however, is a weak link. An American think-tank, Freedom House, labels the South Korean press only “partly free”, as a result of what it calls “an increase in official censorship” and “government attempts to influence news and information content”.
Journalists themselves worry. A Journalists’ Association of Korea survey conducted in 2010 showed that the top concern of people who work in the media is the “contraction of press freedom”. So-called nakhasan (parachute) appointments of government loyalists into major media outlets have contributed to the impression that newspapers and television news programmes cannot be relied on to hold to account the powers that be.
It is in this environment that one band of rebel podcasters has flourished. The satirical “Naneun Ggomsuda” (roughly, “I’m a sneaky trickster”) reaches an audience of around 10m per episode, according to its founder, Kim Ou-joon (pictured above, second from the right). This would make it the most popular podcast in the world.
The fact that the express purpose of Naneun Ggomsuda (or “Naggomsu” for short) is to pour scorn on a government that Mr Kim openly regards as “greedy” and “suspicious” has raised the hackles of its targets. One regular member of the show, Jeong Bong-ju, a former politician, was recently sentenced to a year in prison for “spreading false information” about the centre-right president, Lee Myung-bak—in contravention of election and defamation laws. Other lawsuits are said to be in the works.
Naggomsu’s case has shed light on South Korea’s unusually strict treatment of its citizens who publicly criticise others. It’s bad enough that one can be sent to jail for it. One can even be judged to have defamed someone when the allegation in question is true. Making a martyr of Mr Jeong though looks to have been an own goal for the government. “It was very stupid to jail him”, according to Mr Kim, because “it is stirring people’s willingness to vote”.
Mr Kim intends to keep his podcast running until South Korea has a new president. Official opposition seems only to encourage him: when asked how he responds to being labelled “dangerous” by a supporter of the government, he smiles broadly and says simply, “I’m very thankful.”
In this blog, our Asia correspondents and our Banyan columnist provide comment and analysis on Asia's political and cultural landscape. The blog takes its name from the Banyan tree, under which Buddha attained enlightenment and Gujarati merchants used to conduct business.
Advertisement
- Analects | China
- Americas view | The Americas
- Babbage | Science and technology
- Bagehot's notebook | British politics
- Banyan | Asia
- Baobab | Africa
- Blighty | Britain
- Buttonwood's notebook | Financial markets
- Charlemagne's notebook | European politics
- Clausewitz | Defence, security and diplomacy
- Democracy in America | American politics
- Eastern approaches | Ex-communist Europe
- Elysée | France’s presidential election
- Free exchange | Economics
- Game theory | Sports
- Graphic detail | Charts, maps and infographics
- Gulliver | Business travel
- Johnson | Language
- Leviathan | Public policy
- Lexington's notebook | American politics
- Newsbook | News analysis
- Prospero | Books, arts and culture
- Schumpeter | Business and management
Most commented
- The euro crisis: The Greek run
- Brazil’s economy: A bull diminished
- Gay marriage: North Carolina begs the question too
- Russia and NATO: Rethink the reset
- Greek politics: Slouching towards the drachma
- Nationalism online: Backfired
- The euro in crisis: Groping towards Grexit
- Renouncing citizenship: Did Eduardo Saverin do anything wrong?
- Greece and the euro: Exodus, chapter 1
- The euro crisis: Going, going, gone?
Over the past five days
Most recommended
- The euro crisis: The Greek run
- Renouncing citizenship: Did Eduardo Saverin do anything wrong?
- Greek politics: Slouching towards the drachma
- The euro in crisis: Groping towards Grexit
- The euro crisis: Going, going, gone?
- Brazil’s economy: A bull diminished
- Rival versions of capitalism: The endangered public company
- Poverty: The audacity of hope
- Jacob Zuma: Portrait of a president
- Bo Xilai v Chen Guangcheng: Who is the mightier?
Over the past seven days
Advertisement
Readers' comments
The Economist welcomes your views. Please stay on topic and be respectful of other readers. Review our comments policy.
Sort:
It should be noted that this show is one-sided. It is not a lampooning of politicians and their corruption in SK; it simple seeks to follow a narrow political agenda against one of the parties. It comes off as yet another attempt DUP to manipulate the voters without making any positive changes in the political atmosphere here. There is a still a strong need for shows that rise above above the Saenuri/DUP split and show that will lampoon the corruption and ineffectiveness of all political actors here. Still, even though it is clearly one-sided, it's an ok start. I just hope that all following shows don't aim for the same low-hanging partisan fruit.
Well, if democracy marches through the Internet in the Arab world, what to expect in the most wired country in the world!
Hello Banyan, thank you for covering this issue. Your article will prompt the so-called conservative (actually corrupt and profit-oriented) Mr. President and his cronies to act more sensibly in the future. It will also make the Korean press to realize how alienated they are from the public while being so close to the regime.
With the standard of journalism so poor in this country, English media such as The Economist are the only tool that will shed light on the situation. Please keeping doing so. (Koreans are very sensitive on what mainstream Western media say. It's the only window we can reflect ourselves upon.)
“Naneun Ggomsuda” (roughly, “I’m a sneaky trickster”): "I" here means "Mr. President". The main topics of the “Naneun Ggomsuda” podcast are about sneaky and dirty tricks secretly done by Mr. President, which otherwise would have never been revealed with the current media environment. Several dirty tricks revealed by the “Naneun Ggomsuda” are making huge stirs in Korea, generating a serious problem for the current regime. This is only possible because there is no tools to control the podcast, a novel media format, yet.
“Naneun Ggomsuda” (roughly, “I’m a sneaky trickster”): "I" here means "Mr. President". The main topics of the “Naneun Ggomsuda” podcast are about sneaky and dirty tricks secretly done by Mr. President, which otherwise would have never been revealed with the current media environment. Several dirty tricks revealed by the “Naneun Ggomsuda” are making huge stirs in Korea, generating a serious problem for the current regime. This is only possible because there is no tools to control the podcast, a novel media format, yet.
Our ‘”mass media” -- newspapers, magazines, television, radio and such -- as a rule “toe the line” of what “the Establishment” considers appropriate for “the common people”. Anything too “weird” or controversial doesn’t get past the editorial board or the controllers of government.
The internet has come to the rescue of the common man who wants to be heard. Many “conspiracy theories” that have been ridiculed as laughable in the oh-so-very-authoritative mass media will at some time become common knowledge. The majority of journalists stay within the guidelines of their employers simply to keep the paychecks coming, and who can blame them. But my hat is off to the true investigative journalists who risk their lives and reputations, to say ‘the Emperor has no clothes!” I look to the internet for my news and do not let the editors of mass media decide for me what is reality. True, you have to sift through stuff, but that’s what we have brains for.
"I look to the internet for my news and do not let the editors of mass media decide for me what is reality". Other country's have the same problem. Vietnam, Burma, even Malaysia and Singapore. For example, in today's Straits Times there are 7 pages of propaganda about why the regime deserves to be paid several times what Barack Obama makes. Imagine the smirks when a Straits Times journalist goes to a party and get asked what they do for a living: "I am a Straits Times journalist". Hahahahaha!
"I am a sneaky trickster"?, wow, I never realized how goofy that title sounded in English.
Just a little note here, the indictment of Jeong Bong-ju was probably not politically motivated. Not my opinion, but the opinion of a very well-known left-wing pundit Jin Joong-gwon. He's called out other people's bulls**t on countless occasions when it was patently not popular to do so, so I generally trust his judgement.
Of course, having said that, it is hard to deny that under the current administration of Yi Myung-bak, press freedom has taken a turn for the worse. Yellow journalism still abounds, but Korea's infamous defamation law makes criticism of public figures a potentially expensive endeavour.
Any time a government (whether Korea, or Britain, or elsewhere) has laws which penalize saying rude things about politicians or the government, it should send up a red flag. Defaming private citizens is a separate discussion. But being a politician should automatically remove an individual from any kind of defamation protection.
That includes inaccuracies and flat out lies. If someone lies about a politician, he should not be at risk of criminal prosecution and the politician should not be able to sue. If the press is doing its job (admittedly a somewhat risky assumption, especially if they have gone overboard for "fairness") the lies will get paired with the facts of the case. And if not, the the politicians will have some incentive to encourage a freer, more independent, press.