CNN에서 한국에선 농담하다가 감옥에 갈 수도 있다며 ... 이건 북한의 얘기가 아니라며...
최근 기소된 박정근(24)씨 사례를 자세히 소개하며
"이명박 대통령 취임 2년 만에 북한 찬양 내용을 인터넷에 올렸다 기소된 사람이 5명에서 82명으로 늘었다"며 "이것은 북한에 대한 얘기가 아닙니다"라고 전했다.
한국 언론파업 문제와 최근 박정근씨의 박근혜 쌔눌당 대표문제에 대해서 까지 자세히 다루고 있다.
그야 말로 한국정부와 국민들에 대한 조롱 수준의 이야기입니다.
노무현 정부 때 아시아의 네덜란드로 일컬어지던 한국이 어쩌다 이처럼 처참하게 되었는지... ?
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/03/world/asia/south-korea-north-joke/index.htm...
기사 전문
CNN “한국에서는 농담하다 감옥갈 수 있다”
미국 뉴스채널 <시엔엔>(CNN)이 "한국에서는 농담하다 감옥갈 수 있다(South Korean 'joke' may lead to prison)"며 한국에서 표현의 자유 문제를 주요 뉴스로 보도했다.
3일 밤 9시(한국시각) <시엔엔>은 북한 트위터 계정 <우리민족끼리>를 재전송(리트위트)하는 등 국가보안법을 위반했다는 혐의로 구속 기소된 박정근(24)씨 사례를 자세히 소개하며 "이명박 대통령 취임 2년 만에 북한 찬양 내용을 인터넷에 올렸다 기소된 사람이 5명에서 82명으로 늘었다"며 "이것은 북한에 대한 얘기가 아닙니다"라고 전했다.
<시엔엔>은 방송사 파업 사태도 다뤘다. 방송은 국회 앞 언론인들의 시위를 전하면서 '낙하산 사장'이 정부에 비판적인 기사를 막고 있다는 이유로 한국의 주요 방송사 두 곳이 파업 중이라고 전했다.
<시엔엔>은 한국 정부가 언론 자유를 침해했다는 지적을 부인했지만 공식적인 인터뷰는 거절했다고 밝혔다.
김원철 기자wonchul@hani.co.kr
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/03/world/asia/south-korea-north-joke/index.htm...
South Korean 'joke' may lead to prison
Seoul (CNN) -- Everyone's made a joke they thought was funny only to see it fall flat,
but Park Jung-geun's attempt at humor could see him jailed for up to seven years in South Korea.
Park, a photographer by profession, re-tweeted some messages from North Korea's official twitter feed, such as reports on the late leader Kim Jong Il's travels across the country and negative tweets about South Korea.
"I found the messages ludicrous because they are so harsh and the language is so out-dated. I found them funny, so I re-tweeted them," Park told CNN.
Park, 23, also took a photo of himself holding a whiskey bottle and edited in a North Korean flag as a background for a joke. His supporters then doctored a North Korean military poster, replacing a smiling soldier with a sad photo of Park and the image of the gun with another whiskey bottle.
But Park was imprisoned in January of this year, accused of "acts that benefit the enemy" and spreading North Korean propaganda. He was released on bail in February and has another court appearance in mid-July. He's still hoping the charges against him will be dropped.
"To be honest, if you did this in North Korea, you would be severely punished," Park said. "But this is South Korea and I thought there wouldn't be a problem as I did it for fun. It certainly wasn't for propaganda purposes."
Park is the latest person to fall foul of South Korea's controversial National Security Law (NSL). Used widely used during the years of military dictatorship in the 1970s and 80s, the law was designed to protect the state against North Korean propaganda and to prosecute spies.
But human rights groups say it was also used to persecute political dissidents and stifle freedom of speech.
Amnesty International says the law is still being abused, especially against those critical of the government's policies on North Korea.
"The NSL has a chilling effect on freedom of expression in South Korea," said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty's Asia-Pacific director.
"It is used, not to address threats to national security, but instead to intimidate people and limit their rights to free speech. It should be reformed in line with human rights law and if the government cannot do this, it must be abolished," he said.
The United Nations has also called on Seoul to change or repeal the law.
President Lee Myung-bak's office declined to comment on the issue but the law has certainly been more widely used since the conservative president came to power in 2008. That year, just five people were prosecuted on charges of pro-North Korean online postings. Two years later that number had jumped to 82.
Some within the South Korean media are also criticizing the Lee administration for interfering in press freedom.
Journalists from four major networks went on strike earlier this year. Employees from two of those stations have since gone back to work after promises from employers their concerns would be heard, but close to one thousand journalists remain on strike.
"President Lee Myung-bak has appointed pro-government people as presidents of the media companies, what we call 'parachutes,'' said Kim Jong-wook, head of the YTN labor union which is still on strike.
"They are now trying to censor our voice and stop criticism of the government," he added.
The government denies interference but picketing journalists say they are worried they are seeing increased censorship reminiscent of the dark days of dictatorship.