"Dictatorship Era Idea" Park Young-sun's Criticism... Jo Eun-hee Calls It a "Framing Idea"

TBS Fairness Pledge Sparks Debate
Candidate Cho: "Kim Eo-jun Also Said Criticism Toward Him Is Okay"
"I Just Said TBS Needs to Balance Its Scale"

Jo Eun-hee, the People Power Party primary candidate running for the Seoul mayoral by-election / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Jo Eun-hee, the People Power Party preliminary candidate running for the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election, strongly criticized Park Young-sun, the Democratic Party preliminary candidate, saying she is "overreacting by talking about dictatorship."

Earlier, Jo had announced a pledge related to Traffic Broadcasting System (TBS). In response to Park's remark that "the idea of the mayor controlling a terrestrial radio broadcast only existed during dictatorial regimes," Jo rebutted once again.

On the 19th, in an interview with KBS Radio's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs,' Jo said, "Broadcaster Kim Eo-jun also says he is fine with criticism directed at him, but Park is overreacting by talking about dictatorship," adding, "(The criticism towards Kim Eo-jun) was about maintaining balance."

She continued, "That person (Park) is really impatient now. In the past, she was not pro-Moon Jae-in but anti-Roh Moo-hyun," and said, "Now that she is a candidate, is she flattering the pro-Moon faction because she fears losing their support? Why is she overreacting like this?"

Regarding the criticism that her pledge to make TBS a 'citizens' trumpet' is 'external pressure,' she explained, "The facts have been distorted. If TBS continues political programs, there needs to be a balancing act."

Park Young-sun, a Democratic Party primary candidate for Seoul mayor, is holding a meeting with cultural artists at the Dream Art Center in Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 19th. / Photo by Yonhap News

She added, "(Such criticism) is what I consider framing," and said, "I only called for fairness, and I never told Kim Eo-jun to leave the broadcast, but framing it as dictatorship is really outdated."

Earlier, on the 15th, Jo appeared on TBS radio's 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory,' hosted by Kim, and said, "One of my pledges is to make TBS a citizens' trumpet, not a mouthpiece of the regime."

When Kim asked, "Then should I quit News Factory?" Jo replied, "That could be possible or not," and added, "Instead, we can create segments with former Dongyang University professor Jin Joong-kwon and Dankook University professor Seo Min."

When Kim asked again, "Isn't that external pressure to have specific people appear as the Seoul mayor wants?" Jo responded, "No, it's about maintaining balance."

In response, Park criticized Jo's TBS pledge in a radio interview the next day, the 16th, saying, "TBS is already a licensed terrestrial radio broadcast," and "The mayor cannot control it."

She added, "The very idea that a mayor can control a broadcast only existed during past dictatorial regimes," criticizing the notion.

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