This study analyzed the meaning and argumentation of the freedom of speech appearing in the editorials and columns of the Kyeonghyang Newspaper and the Dong-A Daily Newspaper from 1948 to 1962. In the South Korean society, the discussions on this era,...
This study analyzed the meaning and argumentation of the freedom of speech appearing in the editorials and columns of the Kyeonghyang Newspaper and the Dong-A Daily Newspaper from 1948 to 1962. In the South Korean society, the discussions on this era, in which the democratic republic was commenced, conceptualized the meaning of the freedom of speech, and had a large effect on today’s perception on the freedom of speech. This paper analyzed the discussions by using practical argumentation, which is one of methods used recently for critical discourse studies. At the time, the freedom of speech was not sufficiently guaranteed, and the system and laws that can guarantee it were not in place yet. The discourses of the freedom of speech showed complex aspects whereby amidst argumentations claiming the guarantee of the freedom of speech, arguments for restricting it were intersecting. Furthermore, other arguments such as fairness of journalism, journalist ethics, or national security were met. Through this analysis, we can understand how today’s perception on the freedom of speech was formed. For a long time, the freedom of speech was perceived narrowly in the media’s freedom and norms. The disappearance of arguments since 1960s left large tracks by taking opportunities away from the society for discussion and reasoning on the freedom of speech, rather than the freedom of speech itself. Hence, the freedom of speech will not be recovered in the state of disappeared oppression only. A greater freedom of everyone will be completely obtained through debates on the arguments that restricted the freedom, and more fierce reasoning for the fairness.