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Members of a coalition of press and civic groups calling themselves Joint Action to Stop Subjugation of the Press hold a press conference outside the South Southern District Prosecutors’ Office on April 29, 2024, where they announce they are filing a complaint against the Election Broadcast Deliberation Commission for alleged over issuance of sanctions to silence the press. (courtesy of the National Union of Media Workers)

South Korea’s Election Broadcast Deliberation Commission (EBDC), which has been reviewing questions of reporting fairness in connection with last month’s general elections, voted on Monday to issue the highest level of legally prescribed punishment — “disciplinary action for those involved” — on the MBC current affairs program “Straight,” which reported on allegations concerning first lady Kim Keon-hee’s acceptance of a luxury handbag and alleged involvement in manipulation of Deutsch Motors stock prices.

This was the sixth time already that either the Korea Communications Standards Commission or EBDC handed down a legal punishment against a broadcast organization for making references to the stock price manipulation allegations. Effectively, they are sending the message that networks are not allowed to so much as even mention the allegations concerning Kim.

On Feb. 25, “Straight” aired a portion of secretly filmed footage showing minister Choi Jae-young handing Kim the luxury bag in question.

A majority of EBDC members described this as an example of “malicious and biased reporting” and supported disciplinary action against those involved.

Choi Cheol-ho, a member of the commission nominated by the ruling People Power Party, likened Kim to an “ordinary homemaker” who “received a gift that she was too embarrassed to say no to.”

“How stunned and devastated she must have felt to see that person suddenly showing up on TV talking about how she had ‘accepted a bribe in exchange for a request,’” he added.

Common sense dictates that the spouse of the president is obviously going to be the object of scrutiny regarding those in power — but there was no sign of that sense here. The efforts to shield Kim Keon-hee’s feelings truly bring tears to one’s eyes.

A majority of EBDC members also supported accusations of bias over reports of Kim and her mother earning 2.3 billion won (US$1.67 million) in profits through the sale of Deutsch Motor stocks.

This was the sixth time to date that legal punishment has been handed down in connection with the case: four times by the EBDC and twice by the Korea Communications Standards Commission. It’s baffling to see how something written in Korea Exchange data submitted by prosecutors with an opinion to a court could be the subject of legal penalty.

What can even be said when they’re issuing “administrative guidance” (recommendation) over the failure to use the “first lady” designation when referring to the proposed “Kim Keon-hee special prosecutor act”?

Since its launch on Dec. 11 of last year, the EBDC for the 22nd general election has approved a total of 30 legal punishments. In no time at all, it passed the previous all-time high.

Of those, 14 have been “disciplinary action for those involved” — the highest level of punishment. Before the current EBDC, only two such punishments had been handed down.

The legal punishments have almost uniformly targeted current affairs and news programs that criticized Yoon, his wife, or the administration and ruling PPP. Seventeen of the total, or 57%, have been directed at MBC, which has been a particular focus of the administration’s enmity.

When broadcasting review organizations routinely engage in reviews that are targeted, excessive, and politicized, they turn into weapons that harm press freedoms — and ultimately democracy.

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