Assemblyman Yongbin Lee: "KOBACO Needs Drastic Measures for Wasteful Management"

Annual Deficit Exceeding 10 Billion Won Despite 2.5-Fold Increase in Lawyer Consultation Fees

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Korea Broadcast Advertising Corporation (hereinafter Kobaco) has been running a deficit of over 10 billion won for several years, but it has recently revised regulations to increase advisory lawyer fees by 2.5 times.

On the 19th, Rep. Lee Yong-bin (Democratic Party of Korea, Gwangju Gwangsan Gap) analyzed the National Assembly audit data on Kobaco and found that Kobaco has been operating at a deficit for several years, with 10 billion won in 2018 and 13.3 billion won in 2019.

However, in May, Kobaco announced a revision to the lawyer operation guidelines that raised advisory lawyer fees from 20 million won to 50 million won, a 2.5-fold increase, and allowed the increased hiring costs to be executed starting next year.

Looking at Kobaco’s lawyer hiring and advisory status management disclosure data, the number of advisory cases per lawyer was 0.75 in 2017, 0.66 in 2018, 4 in 2019, and 1.66 as of 2020.

The budget spent was 80 million won for 4 locations in 2017, 60 million won for 3 locations in 2018, 20 million won for 1 location in 2019, and 60 million won for 3 locations in 2020.

The criteria for hiring advisory lawyers are also unclear, and it appears that advisory lawyers have been hired each year based on arbitrary judgment.

Moreover, Kobaco has been operating without principles, arbitrarily changing internal regulations related to citizens’ rights without prior notice, amid chaotic management such as deficit operations.

It has violated guidelines requiring the disclosure of internal regulations related to employment, broadcast advertising, and lawyer operation guidelines that affect citizens’ lives, failing to disclose them for four years. Some regulations were changed without board approval, revealing poor management.

Internal regulations related to citizens’ lives are supposed to be posted on the website for easy public access and to collect opinions, but no such notices have been posted since 2017, neglecting the protection of citizens’ right to know and the collection of public feedback.

Kobaco designated four employment-related regulations, three business management regulations, and five broadcast advertising management regulations as subject to website notice. These include accounting regulations, lawyer operation guidelines, whistleblower protection guidelines, and broadcast advertising business management guidelines, but none went through the notice procedure.

Also, when establishing or changing internal regulations, board approval is required, but only some regulations have been approved by the board, while many changes were made without board approval.

Rep. Lee said, “Kobaco has been reporting a deficit of over 10 billion won for several years and should enter emergency management, but it is engaging in wasteful management such as significantly increasing lawyer fees. It is violating regulations that should be naturally observed and harming citizens’ rights, so a comprehensive review of management and drastic measures are required.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.