"No Plans to Quit," Kim Eo-jun Mentions... Kim Geun-sik Says, "You Should Know When to Leave to Avoid Trouble"

"Rather Than Staying Out of Caution, Leave Receiving Applause"
"If You Want to Broadcast with Bias, You Must Be Financially Independent and Broadcast"

Kim Geun-sik, Professor at Gyeongnam University and Chairman of the People Power Party's Songpa-byeong District Committee in Seoul / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Kim Eo-jun, a broadcaster and host of the Traffic Broadcasting System (TBS) program "Kim Eo-jun's News Factory," who has been criticized by the opposition for "political bias," stated that he "has no intention of quitting (the show) now." In response, Kim Geun-sik, professor at Gyeongnam National University and chairman of the People Power Party's Songpa-byeong district in Seoul, pointed out, "Knowing when to leave and 'quitting well' is 'doing better.'"

On the 29th, Professor Kim wrote on his Facebook, "If you claim independence of broadcasting, you must be fair," adding, "If the media landscape is a 'tilted playing field' and News Factory is determined to side with the progressive camp and be biased, then do not receive financial support from Seoul citizens' taxes. Instead, become financially independent with pride, collect donations on YouTube, and broadcast with bias as you wish."

He continued, "Ultimately, rather than holding onto your position while being audited by the Board of Audit and Inspection and worrying about the ordinary TBS employees, it is literally 'doing better' to leave with applause."

He emphasized, "Quitting the broadcast yourself and leaving at the right time is at least a way to avoid harsh criticism and leave without being scolded."

Earlier, on the same day’s broadcast of TBS's "Kim Eo-jun's News Factory," Kim was asked by Hong Moon-pyo, a People Power Party lawmaker, whether he would consider quitting while he is still doing well. Kim responded, "News Factory can do even better," and firmly stated, "So I have no intention of quitting now."

Broadcaster Kim Eo-jun, who hosts the TBS current affairs program 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory.' / Photo by TBS Broadcasting Capture

This is not the first time that the broadcast hosted by Kim has been criticized by the opposition for "bias." The opposition has repeatedly pointed out that Kim has been politically biased in his broadcasts.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon also hinted at the possibility of restructuring TBS. In an interview with "Yonhap News" on the 28th of last month, he said, "The purpose of establishing TBS is to provide traffic and lifestyle information," adding, "It is fine for Kim Eo-jun to host News Factory, but he should provide traffic information."

However, Kim argued that "it is impossible for the Seoul mayor to interfere with TBS, which is an independent foundation."

On the broadcast on the 8th, he said, "Some people thought yesterday (the 7th) was the last broadcast of News Factory, and many wished for that. But it is difficult. Thanks to the election of Mayor Oh Se-hoon before my will, the will of the News Factory production team, or the will of TBS."

He explained, "During Mayor Oh Se-hoon's term, TBS was perceived as Seoul's 'promotional broadcast.' There was a lot of interference in broadcasting at that time, so we steadily built a structure to make TBS's broadcasting independent afterward," adding, "Since then, TBS has become an independent foundation, and even Mayor Park Won-soon could not freely appear on broadcasts."

He emphasized, "Even the TBS president cannot dictate how to handle broadcast content," adding, "That is how the structure was created."

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