Conflict Between Ruling and Opposition Parties Over 'News Factory'... Partial Meeting of the Science and ICT Committee Amid Opposition Absence

People Power Party Lawmakers Hold Protest Signs and Enter on 16th at Science and ICT Committee Meeting... Walk Out Early
Concerns Over Disruption at Tomorrow's Science and ICT Committee Bill Subcommittee Meeting

On the 16th, members of the People Power Party protested at the National Assembly Science, Technology, Information and Communication Committee plenary meeting, demanding an audit request for TBS by the Board of Audit and Inspection. The photo shows Chairman Lee Won-wook striking the gavel at the plenary meeting of the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 16th. Photo by Yonhap News.

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] On the 16th, members of the People Power Party fiercely protested to the ruling party during the full meeting of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Communications Committee, demanding an audit request to the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) for TBS. As a sign of protest, opposition party members left the meeting halfway, turning the full meeting into a 'half meeting.'

On that day, People Power Party members belonging to the Science and Technology Committee entered holding placards with slogans such as "Refusal to audit TBS is protecting a servant media," "Audit TBS! The people want it!," and "TBS bulletproof National Assembly! The Democratic Party should apologize."

Earlier, the opposition raised issues regarding the calculation of appearance fees and biased broadcasting by Kim Eo-jun, the host of TBS's "News Factory," and demanded the submission of a motion to request an audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection for TBS. However, the ruling party, the Democratic Party of Korea, set an internal policy not to accept such claims, making it difficult to coordinate opinions between the two parties. There were also concerns about the possibility of disruption in the full meeting on that day and the Information and Communications Broadcasting Bill Review Subcommittee (Bill Subcommittee 2) scheduled for the next day (17th).

The key issue was the necessity of submitting the motion for an audit request to the Board of Audit and Inspection for TBS. Since TBS is operated with local taxes from Seoul citizens, the core question was whether this matter should be handled by the National Assembly. The ruling party viewed it as an issue to be resolved at the Seoul city level, while the opposition believed it was a matter that could be sufficiently addressed by the National Assembly.

On that day, Park Sung-joong, the opposition party's secretary of the committee from the People Power Party, criticized, "You can submit the motion, and if you find it unreasonable, you can reject it. Not even allowing the submission of any motion in any standing committee is dictatorship. The Democratic Party, holding the majority, is proceeding independently through Chairman Lee Won-wook."

He added, "I inquired with Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, and since Seoul city audits are conducted every three years and a recent audit was done, it is not possible to conduct another. However, the legal requirements for requesting an audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection are met, and since public funds are involved, the motion can be submitted."

The opposition also raised concerns about the increase in Seoul city's advertising sponsorship for TBS. Heo Eun-ah, a People Power Party member, said, "Since the Moon Jae-in administration took office, Seoul city's sponsorship has jumped twentyfold from 103 million won in 2015 to 2.043 billion won," calling it the "'Moon Special Coin,' comparable to Bitcoin."

In response, Cho Seung-rae, the ruling party's secretary from the Democratic Party, said, "Regarding Seoul city's audit issues, there are regular audits, special audits, and issue-specific audits, and if Mayor Oh Se-hoon makes a decision, a special audit can be conducted." He criticized the claim that Seoul city's public institution advertising expenses increased, saying, "I don't understand what this has to do with President Moon." He argued that the term 'Moon Special Coin' is a 'logical leap.'

Democratic Party member Yoon Young-chan also pointed out, "Raising issues about a specific program and discussing it in the National Assembly to demand an audit goes against our fundamental principle of guaranteeing media independence." Democratic Party member Jung Pil-mo said, "It could be perceived as exerting influence over the media. Considering the bigger picture of press freedom, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages, so we should refrain from this."

After the statements from members of both parties, Lee Won-wook, chairman of the National Assembly's Science and Technology Committee, said, "There are many issues the committee needs to discuss, from the Google in-app payment prevention law to the online platform user protection law," and added, "I hope our committee proceeds well without disruption in the Bill Subcommittee 2, and I ask the secretaries of both parties to coordinate well." He also conveyed that the opposition's claim of "chairman’s forceful proceeding" was not true, as both the full meeting and Bill Subcommittee 2 were based on prior bipartisan agreements.

After the People Power Party members finished their initial remarks and the procedural statements ended, they left the meeting halfway. Subsequently, the government departments' reports and members' questions regarding the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Korea Communications Commission, and the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission proceeded in the absence of opposition members.

As of the 16th, the 21st National Assembly's Science and Technology Committee has 314 pending motions. The number of motions processed is 69, ranking near the bottom among standing committees except for the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee and the Gender Equality and Family Committee. Due to conflicts between the ruling and opposition parties, the formation of the 5th review committee of the Korea Communications Standards Commission has also stalled. The 5th committee members have not been selected, causing a five-month delay.

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