Oh Se-hoon: "TBS, which reported the most on the 'Saengtaetang suspicion'... needs to change"

"Seganseo will not watch TBS as a fair broadcast"
"It is desirable to have autonomous self-purification changes"
On 'Broadcasting Act violation' criticism, "I don't think so"

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is responding to questions during the 3rd plenary session of the 301st regular meeting held at the Seoul Metropolitan Council on the afternoon of the 30th of last month. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon criticized TBS Radio's 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory' (News Factory) as "a biased program with politically biased hosts." During the Seoul mayoral by-election, Mayor Oh had several clashes with 'News Factory' host Kim Eo-jun. He urged improvements, saying, "There needs to be autonomous self-reform within TBS."

On the 1st, during a city council question session, Mayor Oh said, "The public does not view TBS, especially the specific program (News Factory), as a politically very fair and balanced current affairs program."

In response, Democratic Party lawmaker Gyeong Man-seon pointed out, "Saying this now is a serious violation of the Broadcasting Act," to which Mayor Oh replied, "I do not think so."

Mayor Oh called for TBS's self-reform efforts. He stated, "The media outlets that reported the most on the Saengtae-tang (fresh fish stew) controversy were KBS and TBS. At KBS, personnel changes such as the news director occurred after the union raised issues about the coverage," emphasizing, "It would be desirable for TBS to also have autonomous self-reform internally."

Regarding why he does not receive TBS's work reports, he explained, "Not only TBS but most investment and contribution institutions' work reports have not been received. Even if I receive a work report and give instructions, those instructions could be interpreted as some form of pressure or hidden intent."

He added, "The Seoul mayor holds various authorities such as budget allocation rights, management evaluation rights, audit rights, executive appointment rights, and dissolution request rights over TBS, but I have never shown interest or reviewed these," reiterating TBS's need for self-reform.

TBS Radio 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory' host Kim Eo-jun / Photo by TBS Broadcasting Capture

Earlier, during the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election, Mayor Oh also pointed out the political bias issue of TBS. He hinted at the possibility of restructuring TBS.

In a February interview with a media outlet, he said, "If I become mayor, I will correct what needs to be corrected," and mentioned, "It could take the form of not providing budget support to TBS."

In a March interview with 'Yonhap News,' he said, "It's fine if Kim Eo-jun hosts (News Factory), but they should provide traffic information," adding, "The purpose of establishing TBS was to provide traffic and lifestyle information."

However, Kim responded, saying, "It is impossible for the Seoul mayor to interfere with TBS, which is an independent foundation."

On April 8, while hosting TBS's 'News Factory,' Kim said, "During Mayor Oh Se-hoon's term, TBS was perceived as Seoul's 'promotional broadcast,' so there was a lot of interference in broadcasting," and explained, "Since then, we have steadily built a structure to make TBS's broadcasting independent. TBS became an independent foundation, and even former Seoul 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 structure has been established."

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