On February 25, a documentary about 30 minutes long titled ‘Inside Korea – State Crisis in the Shadow of China and North Korea (INSIDE SÜDKOREA – STAATSKRISE IM SCHATTEN VON CHINA UND NORDKOREA)’ was released on the website of Phoenix, a specialized TV channel operated by German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF. It is reported that this documentary is scheduled to be broadcast on ARD and ZDF on March 6.
The ‘Network for Freedom of Expression Against Hatred and Censorship (abbreviated as Article 21 Net)’ considers this documentary to be an extremely biased and distorted broadcast that will further endanger the current crisis of Korean democracy. We have seen many news reports and documentaries from foreign media covering important situations in Korea, but we have never seen content that is so close to misinformation. Above all, we express deep regret that this documentary was researched, produced, and scheduled by two of Europe’s leading public broadcasters.
Foreign media coverage plays an important role in providing a third-party perspective to the people. However, this documentary has gone beyond a third-party perspective. It has expanded and distorted the claims of the far-rights threatening Korean democracy from an outdated perspective of the Cold War system.
Above all, this documentary has abandoned even the basic principles of journalism. The media should not treat groundless and false claims equally with the opposite claims when covering a controversy. However, this documentary predominantly features claims by few far-right groups that the majority of Korean people consider to be false and delusional. It repeatedly presents narratives that inflate the crisis of Korean democracy based on the President’s unacceptable self-justifications, statements from far-right supporters that echo the President, interviews with unreliable experts presented to support these statements, and narratives that exaggerate the political conflict as a crisis of Korean democracy.
The majority of key sources were also from far-right groups. There was only one respondent who pointed out the unlawfulness of martial law. The other five respondents were extreme supporters of the President, election fraud conspiracists, and professors making groundless claims about a communist cartel in South Korea. Above all, the documentary introduced Jeon Kwang-hoon simply as a right-wing populist. Jeon was shunned even by conservative politicians and religious communities until a few months ago. His statements and behavior are closer to that of a fascist than a conservative.
The biggest problem with the documentary is that it revived Europe’s Cold War-era prejudices on East Asia. The documentary views the current situation in Korea through a dichotomous Cold War framework of “secret political alliance between China, North Korea, and the far-lefts of South Korea” versus “alliance of US, Japan, and the ruling party.” This narrative framework presents the viewers conspiracy theory as a palusible communist threat. It falsely depict the tensions between China, Korea, and North Korea. And questions not only the election system, but also the legitimacy of Korea’s legislative and judicial branches. From the documentary’s perspective, European viewers would consider Korea as an underdeveloped democracy similar to the period right after liberation from Japanese colonization.
ARD and ZDF have not considered what impact this documentary will have on the current situation in Korea. This documentary will be used as propaganda to legitimize the violence of far-right groups that undermine the foundations of Korean democracy. Through this propaganda, the 20th century Nazism might revive in 21st century Korea.
We demand an official apology not only from the documentary production team but also from the two public broadcasters. Jürgen Hinzpeter, an ARD correspondent in 1980, was the first foreign journalist to cover the Gwangju Democratic Uprising. ARD is now denying the history of the Korean democratic struggle that he risked his life to report to the world. In 2017, Germany’s Friedrich Ebert Foundation awarded the Ebert Human Rights Award to Korean citizens who led the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye. The two broadcasters insulted them with this documentary.
We clearly state: The whole world is watching that such a biased and distorted documentary is being broadcast by German public broadcasters.
March 6, 2025
Network for Freedom of Expression Against Hatred and Censorship
(abbreviated as Article 21 Net)
Activists group for Human Rights BARAM
Center for media responsibility & human rights
Cultural Action
Disability Discrimination Act of Solidarity in Korea
Human Rights Movement Space ‘Hwal’
Korean Disability Forum
Korean Progressive Network Jinbonet
National Union of Media Workers
Open Net Korea
People’s Coalition for Media Reform
Post BlackList
Seoul Disability Rights Film Festival
Seoul Human Rights Film Festival
Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination
South Korean NGOs Coalition for Law Enforcement Watch
The Center for Freedom of Information
* The ‘Network for Freedom of Expression Against Hatred and Censorship (abbreviated as Article 21 Net)’ is a coalition of 16 human rights and media organizations in Korea working to promote freedom of the press and expression.
Contact: Open Net Korea +82 2 581 1643, ma****@op*****.kr
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