A Washington-based human rights group has rated South Korea's press freedom as only partly free for the seventh straight year.
 
In a report on global press freedom released Friday, Freedom House ranked South Korea at 66th among 199 countries. South Korea scored 34 points, falling a point from last year, but its ranking remained unchanged. South Korea was downgraded to "partly free" in 2011 with a ranking of 70th place.
 
The press freedom index assesses 23 indicators on a scale of zero to 100. A lower score indicates a freer press. The media environment is divided into three groups: free, partly free and not free.
 
North Korea received a press freedom score of 98 points, ranking at 198th place.