- Korea stands together with the international society for protecting the safety of journalists and advocating for media freedom

1. Korea, in commemoration of World Press Freedom Day (May 3), joins the joint statement, as below, on media freedom with all the other members of the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC),* which has 47 member states including Korea.

 * The Media Freedom Coalition is an international cooperation initiative, led by the United Kingdom and Canada, for protecting the safety of journalists and advocating for media freedom. Korea has been a member of the Coalition since January 2021.

ㅇ Access to reliable and independent information is paramount, as exemplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, and we need journalists to report the facts.

ㅇ Global efforts to take urgent action are needed, as threats to the safety of journalists persist around the world.

ㅇ The Media Freedom Coalition calls upon all states to promote and protect media freedom at home and abroad, and to release all arbitrarily detained journalists, given that democracy cannot function if media cannot be free.

2. Korea has been actively participating in the global efforts to protect the safety of journalists around the world and promote freedom of media, as a member of not only the Media Freedom Coalition but the Group of Friends on Safety of Journalists working together in New York and Geneva as well as in Paris.