A Foreigner's Take On The Freedom Of Speech
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
I get news alerts everyday from Yahoo for anything that has the key word Korea in it. Being a Korean linguist, I like to stay on top of the news and this is one good way to see what's going on there. Well, I got this news article recently and I thought I'd share it here. You can get the entire article here - [Opinion] Speech Law of Korea and the U.S. . It's a pretty good article about how the laws covering the freedom of speech in Korea have been changed, modified, restricted and opened over the years. They have to think of everything when they formulate these laws, which just causes more laws to be written. The last paragraph, and the only one that I'll cut and paste here, was the one that drove home the important difference between the freedom of speech in the USA and elsewhere.
"I was surprised to know that the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution consists of only 45 words. But what amazed me more is the fact that the U.S.'s first amendment requires Congress not to make laws abridging the freedom of speech. While the nation's presidents have been replaced about fifty times, the first amendment, the only free speech law in the U.S. has not been touched once. But still, the freedom of speech in the U.S. is most respected in the world." - Lee Jae-kyoung, guest editorial writer, Professor of Speech Studies at Ewha Woman's University, [email protected]
"I was surprised to know that the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution consists of only 45 words. But what amazed me more is the fact that the U.S.'s first amendment requires Congress not to make laws abridging the freedom of speech. While the nation's presidents have been replaced about fifty times, the first amendment, the only free speech law in the U.S. has not been touched once. But still, the freedom of speech in the U.S. is most respected in the world." - Lee Jae-kyoung, guest editorial writer, Professor of Speech Studies at Ewha Woman's University, [email protected]
