By: (AP) President Kim Dae-jung tried to dispel fears Wednesday that the arrests of three newspaper owners for alleged tax evasion signaled a crackdown on the rights of the press, insisting that the media enjoy unrestricted freedom.
"The media should have a high level of morality. It is shameful that some journalists evaded taxes and committed irregularities," Kim told a meeting with provincial government officials.
"Although the three newspaper owners were arrested, all media, including the three newspapers implicated, have full freedom to report. The problem of the owners is a tax problem, not an issue of press freedom," he said.
Acting on reports by government tax auditors, prosecutors arrested the owners of three major national newspapers on Aug. 17 on charges that they evaded millions of dollars in taxes or embezzled company funds for private benefit between 1995 and 2000.
The tax probes and arrests triggered a heated debate over whether the government was trying to muzzle a critical press. The government denied the charges, saying the papers should be held accountable for financial wrongdoing like any other company.
Those arrested were Bang Sang-hoon, president-publisher of the nation's largest newspaper,
Chosun Ilbo; Kim Byung-kwan, owner and former honorary chairman of the nation's third largest newspaper,
Dong-A Ilbo; and Cho Hee-joon, the controlling shareholder of a church-affiliated newspaper,
Kookmin Ilbo.
JoongAng Ilbo, the nation's second largest daily, was also accused of evading taxes but its owner was not charged.
Under South Korean law, people convicted of evading more than $390,000 in taxes could face prison terms of five years to life.
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