hankyoreh

“A South Korean PCC sank after being attacked by North Korea” the night of March 26.

Three terrestrial broadcasting companies are receiving criticism for their coverage of the sinking of the Patrol Combat Corvette (PCC) Cheonam, which has unduly increased the uneasiness of the people by mentioning the possibility of a North Korean attack without any evidence to support their claims.

The South Korean broadcasting companies regularly enjoy spikes in viewership when they mention North Korean relations even without factual grounds, since making unsubstantiated overtures about North Korea could deepen the conflict in inter-Korean relations, and there is so much at stake for the livelihood of the common people.

Last Friday night when the accident occurred, SBS ran a news ticker on their screen that read, “A South Korean PCC sank after being attacked by North Korea.” Accordingly, many viewers wrote comments on the SBS website saying that they felt uneasy because they believed a war could break out between North Korea and South Korea.

KBS also mentioned the possibility of a North Korean attack during their news program “News Line” at 11 p.m. on the same day. During the program, anchor Park Sang-beom said, “The cause of the sinking was assessed to be an attack by North Korea, however, this has not been confirmed by the government.”

At 12:40 a.m. on Saturday, MBC “News 24” anchor Kim Ju-ha said that there was a high possibility that a North Korean attack had occurred.

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

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