Since Kim Dae-jung's summit in North Korea, the South Korean media has adopted a warmer tone towards its neighbour. But there have been past cases of South Korean journalists suffering intimidation for giving favourable coverage to North Korea's communist leadership. Media criticism of the armed forces is unusual. In 1998, two journalists were jailed for libelling President Kim Dae-jung during the 1997 election campaign. Many of South Korea's newspapers are controlled or depend on advertising from the country's industrial conglomerates.
Television is the most influential medium - there are three major terrestrial networks.