hankyoreh

the new president of the Korean Broadcasting System

In his inaugural address yesterday, new KBS President Lee Byong-soon strongly hinted that programs that monitor and criticize public power like “Media Focus” and “Current Events Tonight Live” would be canceled. This is earning criticism as not only a violation of the principle of separating station management and programming as laid out in current broadcast laws, but also as an attempt to turn KBS into a government-run media in step with the administration and its ideological persuasions.

In his morning address at the KBS headquarters on Seoul’s Yeouido, Lee said he would seriously consider whether to keep or terminate programs that had been widely criticized from within and without the company and programs that failed to change despite inviting public censure. He also said he would thoroughly operate pre- and post-production screening systems so that mistakes owing to the unfiltered exposure to particular ideologies will not be repeated. His comments are interpreted as meaning he would actively consider canceling programs like “Media Focus,” “Current Events Tonight Live” and “Current Events Feature Ssam,” which have been criticized by the ruling party and conservative media as biased.

He added he would increase the production of high-quality art and culture and educational programing and correct as much as possible the programing’s excessive entertainment character and raciness, which have come under criticism from some quarters.

Yang Moon-seok, the secretary-general of Citizens Coalition for Media Reform, said if the KBS president resolves to cancel even programs that have performed the task of watching and criticizing the power of politicians, capital, and media, KBS would transform from a social institution into a dangerous weapon. He said that seeing how KBS’s new pro-Grand National Party president is making statements that interfere with production from his first day on the job, he believed KBS would soon become a pro-administration, government-run media outlet.

Lee’s statement that he would consider canceling particular programs also runs directly counter to Article 4, Clause 3, of the current Broadcast Law, which states that broadcast company presidents must guarantee the programming chief’s programming autonomy. Yang said the law was created to separate broadcast company management and programming, and that Lee’s statement violated the spirit of the law.

Some 100 KBS employees tried to block Lee from coming to work Wednesday, but he managed to show up for the job with an escort of bodyguards.

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