Journalists Awarded for Promoting Nation’s Democracy

On February 23, members of the Journalist Association of Korea (JAK) gathered in celebration of the annual Korea Journalist Awards. Founded in 1967, JAK is Korea’s most established network of journalists with the purpose of protecting the nation’s democracy and rights to a free press.

This year, a sizeable number were in attendance due to the controversial issues regarding impeached President Park and her influence-peddling scandal. For the first time, the grand award was given jointly to three news outlets: TV Chosun for reporting on the MI-R foundation corruption scandal, JTBC for its special on retrieving Choi Soon-sil’s tablet PC (meddling in government affairs), and The Hankyoreh for their additional reports on the “Choi Soon-sil-gate”.

Jo Tae-sung, the reporter of Hankuk Ilbo, was awarded for writing on the existence of the cultural blacklist (put into action by Park and her administration). “I only wrote because Korea’s government seemed to be trampling on the hopes and dreams of Koreans; they were crushing the meaning that we were making of our lives” said Jo upon accepting his award.

A total of 14 media publications/works were awarded for their efforts in preserving Korea’s democracy and for their tireless service in maintaining the standard for quality reporting.

Seo Eui-mi, Intern Reporter, The AsiaN