A public outcry has been gaining momentum protesting the issuance of an arrest warrant for Roh Jong-myun, chairman of the cable news network YTN union, by the Seoul Central District Court. On Wednesday, a day after the warrant was issued, media and human rights groups in South Korea and abroad, including Amnesty International, unanimously presented fierce criticism of this arrest, the first of a journalist in ten years.

　

A statement issued by the National Union of Mediaworkers (NUMW) led by President Choi Sang-jae indicates, “The charges of flight risk and destruction of evidence leveled against Roh Jong-myun are part of a strategy to disrupt the general strike that the YTN union entered into March 23.” The NUMW had previously announced that it would respond with a general strike even if only a YTN labor member was arrested.

　

The NUMW also held a press conference in front of the Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday afternoon issuing a call for a collective campaign. “We will not only fight through the general strike as we warned before, we will also unite with all forces for democracy and wage a broad campaign for the resignation of the administration.”

　

The international human rights organization Amnesty International also issued a statement demanding that the government immediately releases Roh. In the statement, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Programme Deputy Director Roseann Rife stated that the detentions of Roh and three other union members “violate the freedom of assembly and the freedom of the press and constitutes a very serious concern about democracy in South Korea.”

Rife also commented that “Mr. Roh and his colleagues appear to have been detained solely for their peaceful union activities. We also have concerns that this is a sign that the South Korea has expanded their effort to control South Korea’s media.

The YTN union has since announced that its continued resolve to maintain the general strike, and has organized an emergency committee.

The Social Movement to Combat Private Media Ownership and Enhance Public Media organization considers this incident as signaling “a declaration of war on media freedom and a challenge to democracy” that indicates “an even fiercer battle” now faces South Korea. 　

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