Foreign media unable to access South Korean government ministries and excluded from background briefing opportunities. Artificial embargoes set by Korean reporters that delay the delivery of breaking news. Hurdles that complicate and in some cases prevent international media from obtaining primary source documents.

These are some of the problems blighting the ROK’s media ecosystem, which has for decades operated on a two-level basis that overtly favors local media over the international press, even though no rules or laws exist to formally justify the prejudice.