idea of the daily press is still somewhat crude, and is illustrated by the fact that when some statement is denied, he is very likely to say, 'It must be true. The paper says so.'"[1] Or, according to a Japanese official statement:
The press undoubtedly plays an important part in the mission of civilization, and journalism is decidedly one of the honorable professions. It would be unwise to interfere with freedom of the press in a civilized country. But in a backward nation where readers are easily influenced or instigated by seditious comments, this freedom is often accompanied by certain disadvantages which far outweight its merits. Should the necessary supervision be neglected, public peace and order would be endangered. Thus in a country like Korea, where public knowledge is yet backward and where insurrection and assassination are often provoked by seditious literature, proper measures of newspaper control and censorship are essential to the maintenance of peace and order.[2]
Immediately after the conclusion of the protectorate treaty, the Japanese authorities began exercising control over the Korean press.[3] In 1906, when the advisory police board was established, it was entrusted with the control of the press published by Koreans and "had power to examine the draft of each paper or to prohibit the publication of the same if facts were misrepresented or comments made injurious to public peace."[4]
A general law concerning the press was promulgated on July 24, 1907. According to this law, "the publisher of a newspaper is required to receive from the Minister of Home Affairs permission to publish, his application being made through the Police Inspector-General in Seoul, or through a provincial Governor in the provinces; and 300 yen is to be furnished as a guarantee fund by the publisher but in the case of a newspaper engaging in religious or literary work this guarantee fund is not required."[5] Also, the Minister of Home Affairs was empowered to prohibit the sale or distribution of the newspaper, to confiscate it, and to suspend or prohibit its publication if he deems it "injurious to public order or good morals."[6] The publisher or editor of such newspaper was made liable to imprisonment or a fine.
- ↑ Homer B. Hulbert, The Passing of Korea (New York, 1906), 340.
- ↑ Residency-General's Office (Japan), Annual Report on Reforms and Progress in Korea (1910-1911), (Keijo, 1911), 86. This Japanese official publication is hereafter cited as "Annual Report."
- ↑ See Japanese Archives in Korea, photographed for and deposited at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, 194, 164 pp. This document is hereafter cited as "JA(Korea)".
- ↑ Annual Report (1908-1909), 85.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Ibid.
