South Korea’s press freedom has risen for two years straight to rank 41st in the latest index, a press advocacy group said Thursday. The 2019 World Press Freedom Index compiled by the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders showed that the country climbed two places from the previous year’s list due to positive changes brought about in the industry following the inauguration of President Moon Jae-in, a former human rights activist. It is the second consecutive year that South Korea’s ranking has risen, after dropping to 70th place in 2016. Some 180 nations were judged on their level of media freedom.

The agency also said the Korean media played a role in the 2014-2016 period in opposing then-President Park Geun-hye and revealing corruption scandals surrounding her that led to her impeachment. North Korea, which was the country with the least press freedom in the world last year, climbed a notch to 179th thanks to its gestures of opening up, including last year’s summit with the United States. China and Vietnam fell one rank to 177th and 176th, respectively, while Taiwan was 42nd and Japan stayed at 67th. Northern European countries topped the list, with Norway in the top spot for the third year in a row, followed by Finland and Sweden.

(Yonhap)