'Violation of Labor Standards Act' Yang Seung-dong, KBS President, Sentenced to 3 Million Won Fine in First Trial

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] Yang Seung-dong, president of KBS, who was prosecuted for violating the Labor Standards Act, was sentenced to a fine.

On the 15th, Judge Kim In-taek of the Criminal Division 5 at the Seoul Southern District Court sentenced President Yang to a fine of 3 million won at the sentencing hearing.

The court stated, "The operating regulations of the Truth and Future Committee (Jinmiwi) correspond to employment rules, and changing them is also considered disadvantageous to employees," adding, "Considering that the labor union and others raised objections, it appears that the defendant had intent or at least conditional intent to disadvantageously change the employment rules."

Earlier, President Yang was indicted on charges of violating the Labor Standards Act for not sufficiently obtaining the consent of members during the process of establishing the operating regulations of the Truth and Future Committee (Jinmiwi), which was created in 2018 to normalize KBS.

The conservative-leaning labor union, KBS Gongyeong Nojo, reported to the Ministry of Employment and Labor that KBS included disciplinary matters unfavorable to employees in the Jinmiwi operating regulations and conducted retaliatory disciplinary actions by investigating past reports.

The prosecution filed a summary indictment against President Yang last year, but as the court referred the case to a formal trial, the trial proceeded. At the previous sentencing hearing, the prosecution requested a fine of 1.5 million won, stating, "President Yang was aware that changing the Jinmiwi operating regulations corresponds to changing employment rules."

President Yang's side rebutted, saying, "The Jinmiwi operating regulations cannot be regarded as employment rules, and even if they are considered as such, they cannot be seen as disadvantageous to the members."

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