The media watchdog “Reporters Without Borders” (RSF) has placed North Korea at the bottom of its World Press Freedom Index for the second year in a row. The country ranks 180th, below China (179th), Vietnam (178th), Iran (177th) and Turkmenistan (176th).
RSF cites as reason for the ranking that dictator Kim Jong-Un’s regime is “one of the worlds’ most authoritarian, tightly controls information and strictly prohibits independent journalism.“
The only permitted source of information in North Korea is the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), deemed “the government’s official mouthpiece“ by RSF. While a few foreign press agencies such as Agence-France Presse (AFP) and Kyodo News have an official presence in the country, they can only operate “under close surveillance, which impairs their reporting ability.“
Journalists who dare to speak out against the regime or publish information that differs from its narrative, are reportedly arrested, deported, sent to labor camps, and even killed.
North Korea consistently one of the world’s most censored countries
Every year on May 3, RSF publishes the World Press Freedom Index to measure the state of press freedom around the globe. It takes into account the political, economic, and sociocultural context as well as the legal framework and security of the press of 180 countries and territories.
North Korea has consistently been ranked at or near the bottom since the report was first issued in 2002.
Edited by Robert Lauler.
