[Editorial] Use of unofficial authority poisons selection of KBS president

Posted on : 2008-08-25 14:45 KST Modified on : 2008-08-25 14:45 KST

There is widespread criticism of how key members of the Lee Myung-bak administration met secretly prior to the choosing of KBS’s new president to discuss what to do about it. The anger is completely natural because the news of this clearly reveals that the administration was conspiring to manipulate the broadcast media.

This episode is serious for other reasons, too. Despite its pledges to the contrary, the Blue House tried to interfere with the broadcast media and its management of personnel, going beyond its charge and authority. This was, therefore, an abnormal use of power. The heads of the Korea Communications Commission and KBS’s board of trustees should be at the forefront of maintaining neutrality in broadcasting. Instead they have gone against what they themselves have said and slipped in between the sheets with the administration. This, too, is highly abnormal for going beyond what is acceptable. With things like this happening in the open, you are unable to see any way to have normal communication and legal procedures.

At the center of the impropriety is Korea Communications Commission head Choi Si-joong. It was Choi who called Blue House influentials like President Lee’s chief of staff and spokesperson to the secret strategy meeting. He has no legal authority in appointing KBS’s president and so you are first surprised at how he could overstep his authority in calling the meeting, but even more alarming is how something like this could take place in the halls of power under this administration as if it was nothing. Choi had no reservations about overstepping his authority when he openly pressured KBS President Jung Yun-joo to resign. He is said to have a voice in internal power fights and personnel issues even within the Lee administration.

He enjoys such power because he is a close aide to the president. The authority he is exercising was not legitimately granted to him through an election or appointment, and he has gone beyond the power given him. It hurts the ability of official organizations and structures to carry out their proper functions when someone like Choi is imprudently exercising unofficial power without anything keeping him in check, even within the administration. An example of this would be how KBS’s board of trustees is being criticized for being about as effective as a scarecrow.

It is well known how the “influentials” (silse) in previous administrations perverted the normal functions and political processes of the government by wielding unofficial authority. Most of them wound up being legally punished for their deeds and poisoned the administrations they worked for. This would be something worth meditating on.

KBS’s board knows no shame if it does actually move to recommend a candidate to be the broadcaster’s new president today. Yoo Jae-cheon, the chairman of KBS’s board, should resign immediately for participating in the secret strategy meeting, as should Kim Eun-koo, the man slated to take over as the broadcaster’s president. In the meantime there needs to be some serious thinking about establishing democratic procedures for choosing the management there, so as to better guarantee KBS’s political neutrality and financial independence.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]