아시아 12/06/01 Seoul court upholds books ban - Decision means soldiers still cannot read 'seditious' titles

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Seoul court upholds books ban

Decision means soldiers still cannot read 'seditious' titles

Stephen Hong, Seoul
Korea
June 1, 2012

Defense Ministry says 23 books are bad for morale

Seoul’s Central District Court yesterday upheld a decision by the Defense Ministry banning “seditious” books from army barracks, prompting strong criticism from supporters of free speech.

The ruling, which follows a similar decision by the Constitutional Court in 2010, means that active soldiers will continue to be barred from reading 23 books deemed to be pro-North Korea, against the government or the United States or anti-capitalist.

These include Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism, a book by Ha-Joon Chang that argues developed economies such as the US and South Korea were built on protectionism, and Year 501: The Conquest Continues, Noam Chomsky’s scathing historical take on Western imperialism.

The Central District Court ruling stated that the “[Defense] Ministry has its autonomy to protect the morale of soldiers with its own guidelines which do not infringe upon others’ rights … as it serves the public interest.”

Yesterday’s decision comes after 11 blacklisted authors and publishers filed a petition in October 2008 arguing the Defense Ministry announcement to ban their titles in July of the same year infringed on basic rights.

“This ban is totally unreasonable,” said Kim Hyun-im, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. “These books were prohibited only because they criticize the governments of South Korea and the US, while defending North Korea.”

In August 2008, the National Human Rights Commission advised the Defense Ministry to outline a clear definition of the term “seditious,” but it is yet to do so, said Kim.

Park Jung-hoon, a publisher and one of the plaintiffs, said the ruling meant the state had become the judge of what South Koreans could and could not read.

“This infringes on freedom of thought,” he said, adding that there would be an appeal.

The acting director of Amnesty International South Korea, Park Jin-ok, said that even though soldiers were a specific group within society, “their right to read should not be restricted.”

Publisher Park Yun-woo said that the ban had ironically prompted a ten-fold rise in sales of Bad Samaritans which showed that, far from influencing people not to read the book, it had served as an advertisement.

A Defense Ministry official who declined to be named welcomed yesterday’s ruling, adding that the court had acknowledged the military as “a special group.”