hankyoreh

A member of the MBC branch of the National Union of Media Workers listens to a press conference on Sept. 14 discussing the disclosure that the NIS under the Lee Myung-bak administration conducted surveillance of MBC and KBS in an effort to shape broadcast content. (Shin So-young

It has come to light that under the Lee Myung-bak administration, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) conducted surveillance of KBS and MBC executives and reporters in an effort to curtail or eliminate press reports and programs critical of the government. The NIS was in charge of the overall planning for the Lee Myung-bak regime's attempt to manipulate public broadcasting and for coming up with specific methods and a road map for suppression of press-related labor unions.

A document titled "Strategies and Measures for the Normalization of the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation," acquired by the Hankyoreh on September 17, lays out the NIS's basic tactics for gaining control over MBC by getting rid of left-leaning personnel and problematic programs and marginalizing the labor union. The document says that, with the appointment of Kim Jae-chul as the company's new president, the influence of key union personnel and former president Choe Mun-sun would be severed and that all department heads in production, reportage, and programming would be replaced, providing leadership of a "sounder disposition."

In the name of "renewal of personnel," the NIS prepared a list of the tendencies and past actions of the presidents and other executives of each regional MBC station, calling for replacement of managers with ties to labor and the opposition party and for censure and reshuffling of reporters, producers, and other personnel with a record of participating in political disputes or "biased broadcasts." The document proposed that state control of the selection of reporters and producers be given top priority. It lists programs determined to be left-leaning, such as The Producer's Notebook or Focus of Attention, and orders the replacement of not only the producers of those shows but also anyone else involved in the production, including even freelance writers and other non-MBC participants.

The NIS also directed efforts at suppressing the labor union. It demanded revision of the union's collective bargaining agreement in order to block union participation in reportage or decisions on human resources. It pushed for strict disciplinary action against strikes and obstructionism and even permanent removal through judicial action if necessary. The document presents a scenario whereby the current union would be abolished, a new "sound" labor chairman would be elected, and eventually high-level labor officials would be organized separately from the media workers' union. The last part of the document asked for bids to take over the broadcasting company, clearly indicating that the ultimate goal was to privatize MBC.

Measures to deal with KBS went even deeper than those aimed at MBC. In a document titled "A Proposal for Replacement of Personnel after the Reorganization of Korean Broadcasting," put out by the NIS in June 2010 in line with the wishes of the Lee Myung-bak administration, after Kim In-gyu was installed as the new head of KBS, leftist tendencies, incompetence, untrustworthiness, and implication in corruption scandals were to be considered disqualifications for hiring. The document called for "special treatment" of five executives, including a chief secretary named Baek, for reasons of "intruding in matters of personnel and leaking internal information to the opposition." It emphasized that anyone with a record of having taken part in "employee action," having been a member of the Korean Broadcasting Company division of the National Union of Media Workers, or having been involved in biased broadcasts should be excluded from consideration for a management role. The document shows that the NIS's surveillance covered not only such matters of political leanings but even strictly personal matters as well.

It has become clear that an NIS task force assigned to devise ways to eliminate "deep-rooted vices" submitted these documents about controlling the broadcast media to Won Sei-hoon, chief of the NIS at the time, and that these have now been passed onto the public prosecutor. Much of the content regarding suppression of unions and removal of management and reporters became a reality. We hope that the public prosecutor will follow through by investigating who at the time led the process of carrying out the documents' proposals.

By Seo Young-ji, staff reporter

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