Freedom of the press in South Korea

[2] The Syngman Rhee administration that followed afforded considerable press freedom, but this was limited in its later tenure by the National Security Act.

It attributed the main problems to the administration of President Park Geun-hye "increased reliance" on the National Security Law which had "a chilling effect on working journalists".

The 2011 report noted: South Korea declined from Free to Partly Free to reflect an increase in official censorship, particularly of online content, as well as the government's attempt to influence media outlets' news and information contentThe report also criticized the Lee Myung-bak administration for interfering with the press.

[12] Jaggard and You (2015) identified five factors contributing to deterioration of South Korea's Freedom House rating in 2010s: "abuse of criminal defamation, the rules governing election campaigns, national security limitations on free speech, restrictions related to the internet and partisan use of state power to control the media".

[13] The PFI entry on South Korea for 2016 stated: Relations have been very tense between the media and the authorities under President Park Geun-hye.