hankyoreh

YTN union members struggle with security guards to bar Gu Bon-hong from entering the YTN building on July 14. YTN is the 24-hour news channel.

Gu, a close aide to President Lee Myung-bak, was named as president of YTN on May 29 and was scheduled to have been confirmed for the post in a shareholders’ meeting held that day. The struggle over Gu’s appointment has ignited suspicions that the Lee administration is attempting to gain control of the media via his ties to Gu and other former aides who have been put in positions of power at local broadcast stations.

As approximately 200 people gathered outside the YTN building to protest Gu’s appointment, a scuffle was underway inside as approximately 100 union members and 50 security guards fought to take the stage before the meeting began.

Ultimately, the controversy over Gu’s appointment resulted in shareholders, many of whom are members of the YTN union, deciding to postpone voting on the bill to elect Gu and the meeting itself was brought to an end by Kim Jae-yoon, the acting chairman.

Incidents such as this seem to demonstrate that efforts to prevent the Lee administration from gaining control of broadcasting are having a significant impact.