These media sources have a slight to moderate liberal bias.  They often publish factual information that utilizes loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by appeals to emotion or stereotypes) to favor liberal causes.  These sources are generally trustworthy for information but may require further investigation. See all Left-Center sources.

• Overall, we rate The Korea Times Left-Center Biased due to story selection and mostly factual reporting due to poor sourcing, but a clean fact check record.

Detailed Report

Bias Rating: LEFT-CENTER
Factual Reporting: MOSTLY FACTUAL
Country: South Korea
Press Freedom Rating: MOSTLY FREE
Media Type: Newspaper
Traffic/Popularity: Medium Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: HIGH CREDIBILITY

History

The Korea Times is a daily English-language newspaper founded in 1950 and published and based in Seoul, South Korea. Its sister papers include the English-language daily The Korea Times in North America, Hankook Ilbo, Seoul Economic Daily, and Sports Hankook. 

Read our profile on South Korea’s media and government.

Funded by / Ownership

Its owner is Hankook Ilbo Media Group, and the founder is Helen Kim. Advertising and subscription fees generate revenue.

Analysis / Bias

In review, The Korea Times publishes tabloid-style news such as entertainment, arts, culture, sports, and world news. Examples: “Train drivers turn to drink after witnessing suicides” and “Grace Lee admits dating former Filipino President Aquino.” Typically they source through large quotes and rarely provide direct links to their sources.

For example, this is a quote from an article that does not provide a source for the information: “The U.S. secretly took more than 1,600 rocket scientists, engineers and technicians from post-Nazi Germany between 1945 and 1959. The migrants then provided the intelligence and expertise behind the U.S. space program in a race against the Soviet Union.”  However, The Korea Times also uses the Yonhap News Agency for reporting foreign news, and when it comes to national politics, their leaning is Left-Center. For example, in the article: “Hong Joon-pyo intensifies ideological attack on Moon,” there is a biased quote ”Hong Joon-pyo has politicized the movement as a measure to attack his liberal rivals.” Note that Hong Joon-pyo is Chairman of the LKP (Liberty Korea Party), the opposition conservative party of South Korea.  The President of South Korea is Moon Jae-in, and he was the Leader of the Democratic Party, which is center-left.

Failed Fact Checks

• None in the Last 5 years

Overall, we rate The Korea Times Left-Center Biased due to story selection and mostly factual reporting due to poor sourcing, but a clean fact check record. (M. Huitsing 5/16/2018) Updated (02/04/2022)

Source: https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/