Day: November 18, 2022

Just six months into his presidential term, press freedom advocates are expressing concern about South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s treatment of the media, including the sidelining of journalists from a major South Korean news outlet over coverage he did not like.

Last week, Yoon’s office prevented reporters from MBC, one of South Korea’s largest broadcasters, from riding the president’s plane on an overseas trip.

The justification, according to Yoon officials, was displeasure with the outlet’s “biased” reporting, which they claimed was hurting the national interest.

Many journalists in Korea were already skeptical of Yoon, a conservative political outsider with a non-traditional communications style. Although his frequent impromptu press conferences make him more accessible to journalists than his predecessors, Yoon and the people around him often are more combative, sometimes in surprisingly blunt ways.

During the election, Yoon’s wife, Kim Keon-hee, vowed to “jail all reporters” who criticized her husband if he were to win, according to recordings and transcripts of private phone calls with a reporter from the left-leaning Voice of Seoul YouTube news channel. The comments were made public in January after a lengthy court battle.

In a public statement last month, the Culture Ministry issued a “grave warning” to the organizers of a little-known contest held at the Bucheon International Comics Festival on the outskirts of Seoul. Their alleged offense: awarding second prize to a high school student who depicted Yoon as the children’s cartoon character Thomas the Tank Engine.

Many domestic and international observers fear that Yoon’s actions, especially the MBC ban, could have a chilling effect and threaten the country’s reputation for being one of Asia’s freest democracies.

Beh Lih Yi, Asia program coordinator at the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, said Yoon’s targeting of MBC “is worrying for press freedom, as well as the environment for domestic and foreign media based in the country.”

“It sends a clear signal to other media outlets that they could be the next target if they carry unfavorable coverage of President Yoon,” Beh said in a written statement to VOA.

The South Korean presidential office did not respond to VOA’s request for comment about whether the ban set a precedent for sidelining media outlets moving forward.

Hot mic incident

The dispute leading to the plane ban began in September, after Yoon was caught on a hot mic using seemingly vulgar language after meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden on the sidelines of a visit to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

MBC and other many mainstream South Korean broadcasters aired the remarks with captions indicating that Yoon was referring to Biden and U.S. lawmakers.

Yoon and his conservative allies expressed concerns that the incident may damage South Korea’s alliance with the United States, and insisted the president was referring to South Korean politicians. Yoon’s administration responded by taking aim at MBC, which first aired the remarks.

As well as the plane ban, MBC has said that Yoon’s office sent a letter demanding to know the editorial process that led to the broadcast, and his ruling People Power Party filed a complaint with prosecutors, accusing the outlet’s staff of defamation.

Yoon and his staff linked the decision to their displeasure with the hot mic incident, accusing the outlet of harming national interests and inciting conflict with friendly countries, according to a text message from the presidential official that was published by MBC.

MBC said the decision represented “a new level of media repression.”

A joint statement by five Korean journalist associations and trade unions vowed “full-scale war” with the government unless Yoon reversed the ban. Even many conservative outlets criticized Yoon’s decision, a notable step in a country with a highly polarized media environment.

State-linked broadcaster

In recent years, MBC’s newsroom has taken on a more left-leaning reputation and clashed with conservative governments.

MBC runs on advertising revenue, but its largest shareholder is the Foundation of Broadcast Culture, a public organization headed by a government appointee.

That makes the situation more complicated — especially considering government and societal expectations surrounding state-linked outlets.

Such news organizations are often perceived by the public as subservient to the government in power, said Hans Schattle, a professor of political science at Seoul’s Yonsei University.

“News organizations should simply be reporting the unvarnished truth to the public and let the chips fall where they may,” Schattle said. “And [government leaders should] take the hits when they come. That’s what they do in a democracy.”

Explicit retribution

Despite those tensions, observers say it is problematic that the government is indicating that it intends to punish a media outlet over coverage it disputes.

Yoon is drawing a “straight clear line” connecting MBC’s coverage and the ban, said Darcie Draudt, a Korea specialist and postdoctoral researcher at the Princeton School of Public & International Affairs.

“It’s pretty egregious,” Draudt told VOA. “It’s easy to say that it’s retribution against unfavorable press.”

Despite the criticism, Yoon continued to attack MBC. On Friday, he called the outlet’s coverage “malicious,” saying the ban was necessary in order to preserve national security and “protect the constitution.”

“You are free to criticize me,” Yoon told reporters. “I am always open to criticism of the press and the people.”

South Korean officials have also defended their response to the cartoon controversy. The contest organizer, they point out, received government funding. Government support could be pulled if the contest attracted public criticism, they said.

Past censorship

The cartoon festival incident prompted newspaper headlines comparing Yoon to South Korea’s last conservative president, Park Geun-hye, who was removed from office after a series of corruption scandals, including the formation of a blacklist that attempted to silence writers, actors, and others deemed critical of her administration.

Park is the daughter of Park Chung-hee, South Korea’s late military strongman, whose government in the 1960s and 70s practiced a severe form of media censorship.

Though South Korea emerged from military rule in the 1980s, many of its presidents since then have been accused of trying to muzzle the country’s notoriously freewheeling and politicized press.

Press freedom advocates strongly criticized South Korea’s last president, the liberal Moon Jae-in, over his attempts to pass legislation intended to fight “fake news.” The law, which did not pass, would have significantly expanded the ability of courts to punish reporters and media outlets deemed to have intentionally published false information.

Many press freedom advocates are urging Yoon, who took office in May, to reverse the approach he has taken so far.

“President Yoon has placed much emphasis on the value of freedom since assuming office,” said CPJ’s Beh. “If he truly believes in freedom, he must accept criticism and understand that as an elected official, his actions will be scrutinized by the public, including journalists.”

 

 

 

Source: Voice of America

Myanmar’s junta Thursday released thousands of prisoners, including four foreigners as part of efforts to appease the outside world, experts and commentators say.

Former British Ambassador to Myanmar Vicky Bowman, Australian economic adviser to Aung San Suu Kyi Sean Turnell, U.S citizen Kyaw Htay Oo, and Japanese filmmaker Toru Kubota are included in a list of nearly 6,000 prisoners released according, to the junta, officially the State Administration Council.

Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch, told VOA he hopes the release of the prisoners was a sign of things to come.

“One hopes this release will not be a one-off event but rather the start of a process by the junta to release all political prisoners in Myanmar. The international community should demand no less. People should never be criminalized and imprisoned for simply expressing political opinions and peacefully exercising their rights,” he said.

Tun Aung Shwe, the representative to Australia for the opposition shadow National Unity Government told VOA he was surprised at Turnell’s release.

“Sean is very special and the junta using him as a playing card of its hostage diplomacy game,” he said.

Myanmar has had mass prisoner releases before.

In October 2021, the junta pardoned and dropped the charges against thousands of prisoners but human rights groups said the move did not reflect broader change in the military’s approach.

Myanmar political analyst and Director of Communications at think tank Institute Strategy & Policy Myanmar (ISP), Aung Thu Nyein, cited that only a small proportion of political prisoners are usually freed in prisoner releases.

“Since the military coup, the junta announced 8 times of amnesty but included 8% of the political prisoners with many criminals. Lately, many arrested activists are accused of terrorism law and they would not be categorized as “political prisoners” by the junta and they will be difficult to release and could serve long-term imprisonment,” Aung Thu Nyein said via email.

International pressure has grown since the coup on the junta, which has been hit with Western sanctions while diplomatic scrutiny is increasing from neighboring nations, including exclusion of the country from the recent Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Cambodia.

The junta is preparing for new elections next year, despite widespread unrest, but Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah recently said that Malaysia wouldn’t support the regime’s election plan because some of the election rules were seen as biased.

Tun Aung Shwe said the junta sees releasing prisoners as one way to appease the outside world.

“I think the reason behind the amnesty is related to change of position among the ASEAN leaders. The junta’s ultimate aim is to hold the election next year and it needs endorsement from the international community. This amnesty is a move to response increasing pressure from ASEAN and looking for the international community’s positive view on its election plan,” he said.

Aung Thu Nyein shared a similar view.

“One of my presumptions is the prisoners’ release is also a test-run before the 2023 proposed elections. We can expect more prisoners [to be] release[d] if this attempt works smoothly at the end of the year [for] Myanmar’s Independence Day and [the] following Union Day on February 12, and March 27, Tatmadaw Day,” he told VOA.

Prisoners were given amnesty to mark a national holiday while the four foreigners were released “for the relationship with other countries and also for humanitarian purposes” according to state media.

Bowman was jailed in September by military authorities for breaching Myanmar’s immigration law. She had been Britain’s ambassador to Myanmar from 2002 to 2006.

Kubota was sentenced to 10 years in prison last month for violating sedition and communication laws.

Both arrived in Bangkok Thursday after being deported from Myanmar.

Turnell has been detained since February of last year before being sentenced to three years in prison in September for violation of the Myanmar’s Official Secrets Act. He arrived back in Australia on Friday.

 

 

Source: Voice of America

PHNOM PENH– The Royal Palace, the most popular tourist spot in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, will reopen for the public from Dec 1, after a closure for more than two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

“National and international tourists will be allowed to visit the Royal Palace from Dec 1, 2022, onwards,” Royal Palace Minister, Kong Sam Ol said, in a letter released to the media today.

 

According to the Ministry of Tourism, the beautiful towering spires of the buildings at the Royal Palace, are a great example of classic Khmer architecture found in Cambodia.

 

Tourists are welcome to visit the Throne Hall (Preah Tineang Tevea Vinichhay), where coronations and official ceremonies take place, the ministry said.

 

The gardens are beautifully manicured, and buildings on the palace grounds include the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Preah Keo Morakot), Stupas, the Royal Dining Hall, the Chan Chhaya Pavilion and a French building that was a gift from Napoleon III, the ministry added.

 

Among the numerous interesting buildings, within the 183,135-square-metre compound, is the Khemarin Palace, or the “Palace of the Khmer King,” which is the official residence of the present King, Norodom Sihamoni, the ministry said, adding that, the Khemarin Palace is in a protected part of the compound and not opened to the public.

 

The number of international tourists to Cambodia has increased at a faster-than-expected pace, prompting the kingdom to lift its target to two million tourists for 2022, up from earlier forecast of one million, Tourism Minister, Thong Khon, said.

 

“Cambodia’s full reopening of its borders to all travellers, high COVID-19 vaccination rates, and tourism development strategies, are key to attracting tourists to the kingdom,” Khon said.

 

 

 

Source: Nam News Network

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris convened an emergency meeting of key regional powers Friday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Bangkok to discuss North Korea’s latest missile launch, that fell 200 kilometers off Japan’s coast.

“This conduct by North Korea most recently is a brazen violation of multiple U.N. Security resolutions. It destabilizes the security in the region, and unnecessarily raises tensions,” Harris said in brief remarks to press prior to meeting with leaders of Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

The launch is the latest of the barrage of missiles that North Korea has test-fired in recent weeks. Pyongyang said they were a “corresponding military operation” aimed at conducting simulated strikes on South Korea and the United States in response to large-scale allied air drills.

North Korea’s provocation occurs amid already heightened geopolitical tensions over the war in Ukraine that has exacerbated supply chain issues and inflationary pressures globally.

Harris is in Bangkok as the head of the U.S. delegation in the meetings of members of APEC, a grouping of 21 economies in the Asia-Pacific, whose mandate is to promote regional economic cooperation and integration.

“Our message is clear; the United States has an enduring economic commitment to the Indo Pacific, one that is measured not in years but in decades and generations,” she said during remarks at the APEC CEO Summit.

Harris argued that there is “no better economic partner for the Indo-Pacific than the United States of America” as she pushed for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework that Washington launched in May.

Indo-Pacific Economic Framework

The framework is a trade facilitation, standards-setting, and capacity-building mechanism designed to provide a counterweight against Chinese economic clout in the region. It is the Biden administration’s effort to reengage Indo-Pacific nations on trade after former President Donald Trump’s administration withdrew in 2017 from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The previous U.S. administration, that of President Barack Obama, had promoted and launched that regional comprehensive trade pact in 2015.

Thirteen countries in the region have signed on to the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, or IPEF, which includes provisions divided into categories that countries can choose from – fair and resilient trade; supply chain resiliency; clean energy, decarbonization and infrastructure; and taxation and anti-corruption.

While there are signals the region wants the U.S. to increase its economic engagement to counterbalance China’s, it has given lukewarm reception to IPEF, which does not include market access or tariff-reduction provisions.

Beijing meanwhile boasts the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a free trade agreement it promoted and has been signed onto by Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. It is also accelerating negotiations on the ASEAN -China Free Trade Area “Version 3.0” with Southeast Asian nations.

It is a big challenge for U.S. policymakers to match China’s latest geoeconomic maneuver, said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute for Science and International Security at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University.

Nevertheless, the U.S. is still a major investor in the region, Pongsudhirak told VOA.

“The stock of U.S. investments is immense, very close to China. They take turns going back and forth,” he said.

Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment

Harris highlighted the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, the West’s counter to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

“At the G-7 we intend to mobilize $600 billion in infrastructure investment in the developing world that will be high standard, transparent, climate-friendly,” Harris said.

In a veiled criticism of Beijing, she added the partnership, “does not leave countries with insurmountable debt.”

Harris noted the Just Energy Transition Partnership developed with Indonesia during its G-20 presidency that aims to mobilize $20 billion over the next three to five years to help the country’s energy transition and implementation of its climate agenda.

“That effort shows Washington recognizes that it has work to do to compete with China,” said Susannah Patton, director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Lowy Institute, said.

“However, until tangible projects are delivered, skepticism about U.S. efforts will remain,” she told VOA.

Like many other countries in the region who look to China to bankroll its infrastructure, Indonesia in 2023 is set to launch its Beijing-funded $8 billion high-speed rail project connecting Jakarta and Bandung.

Biden absence

The APEC summit caps off a series of international meetings in Southeast Asia this week, following the G-20 summit in Bali, Indonesia and the ASEAN meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Harris is standing in for President Joe Biden who attended the G-20 and ASEAN meetings but returned to Washington Wednesday to host his granddaughter’s upcoming wedding at the White House.

Biden’s absence will feed into some of the concerns and anxieties the region has on U.S. commitment to the region, said Andreyka Natalegawa, associate fellow for the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, to VOA.

Natalegawa noted that the U.S. is taking over as APEC chair next year.

“That’s sort of a strong signal that Washington remains engaged and committed to economic integration in the Indo-Pacific,” he said.

Following his meeting with Biden on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Bali Monday, from Bangkok Chinese President Xi Jinping warned against Cold War tensions, saying that the Asia-Pacific is no one’s backyard and should not become an arena of big power rivalry.

Capping off her day in Bangkok, Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff will meet with King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua and Queen Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana.

 

 

 

Source: Voice of America

Myanmar’s government-in-exile, known as the shadow National Unity Government (NUG), on Friday prepared to open its first office in Washington to reach out to U.S. officials, international diplomats and the local community.

NUG’s foreign minister, Zin Mar Aung, told VOA the office aims to promote communication between the shadow government and a wide range of interests.

“We aim to work with U.S. closely and effectively as well as the Burmese community in the U.S.,” the foreign minister said, adding that the goal is “to be effective in our diplomatic channel.”

She noted that NUG has representatives in other countries, notably Australia and South Korea.

NUG was formed by ousted Myanmar officials and some ethnic leaders who oppose the country’s military government and back the armed resistance movement fighting it.

Priscilla Clapp, a senior adviser at the U.S. Institute of Peace, told VOA the opening of the office in the U.S. capital “is a big deal” but noted that the office carries no official status.

“It’s not official recognition. We can’t do that because we have an embassy in Rangoon,” Clapp said, using the former name of Yangon. “And if we were to recognize an alternative government officially, we would lose our embassy. It’s easier to do that when you don’t have diplomatic relations with the country. Diplomatic relations are with a country, not a government. We have an embassy in Rangoon but they don’t really talk to the government, or I mean the SAC, in Naypyidaw.” She was referring to the State Administration Council, the junta now running Myanmar.

Clapp, who served as chief of mission and permanent charge d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Burma from 1999 to 2002, said the previous Burmese exiled government, known as the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, or NCGUB, did not have the same opportunities to exert influence that NUG has.

“The NCGUB didn’t have this kind of popular support and determination that this resistance has. This is very serious – I mean, this is a revolution going on in this country and that doesn’t happen before,” Clapp said.

NUG announced armed resistance against the military junta last September, backed by some ethnic armed groups.

A recent report by former U.N. officials serving on a special advisory council on Myanmar estimated the junta has lost control of more than half the country.

The Myanmar junta has labeled NUG as a terrorist group. It also rejected the advisory council report as “baseless.”

Myanmar’s military launched a coup in February 2021, declaring a state of emergency and detaining members of the democratically elected government. The junta declared that the 2020 election that put the country’s civilian leaders in power was invalid and pledged to hold a new election at the end of the state of emergency.

Since then, the state of emergency has continued and thousands of people are believed to have been killed in clashes between the military and the resistance movement.

 

 

 

Source: Voice of America