Jo Seung-rae: "The 5th Broadcast Communications Commission Drifting for 6 Months Due to People Power Party's Obstruction... Can No Longer Neglect"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] Cho Seung-rae, the Democratic Party's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee spokesperson, stated on the 14th, "The formation of the 5th Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC) has been stalled for six months due to obstruction by the People Power Party," adding, "It is deeply concerning that the People Power Party seems more interested in turning the KCSC into a battleground for political conflict rather than ensuring its normal operation."

On the same day, Cho urged the People Power Party to promptly proceed with recommending members for the KCSC through a statement titled "People Power Party Should Cooperate Sincerely for the Normal Operation of the Science and Technology Committee."

The term of the 4th KCSC expired on January 19. While the selection of six members, effectively the ruling party's quota, out of nine for the newly launched 5th KCSC is nearing completion, the main opposition party, the People Power Party, is opposing this by demanding the withdrawal of the nomination of former KBS President Jeong Yeon-ju as KCSC chairman, citing political bias, before recommending their opposition party members.

Cho said, "Meanwhile, about 140,000 cases related to broadcasting and telecommunications reviews, including fake news, drugs, and gambling, have accumulated at the KCSC, and complaints about digital sex crimes alone have reached around 10,000," adding, "The deadline for forming the Election Broadcasting Review Committee to ensure fairness in next year's presidential election broadcasts has also passed. We cannot indefinitely tolerate and wait for the People Power Party's obstruction."

He raised his voice, saying, "The People Power Party continues to stubbornly claim that certain individuals are biased," and pointed out, "However, looking at the individuals mentioned as nominees by the People Power Party, their double standards are beyond belief." He explained that the People Power Party, which claims that the ruling party's nominees are not neutral, also nominates politically biased figures such as former Saenuri Party spokespersons and former Minjoo Party career officials.

Cho also urged the People Power Party members of the Science and Technology Committee to sincerely cooperate with the July extraordinary session schedule.

He said, "The July extraordinary session is a schedule agreed upon by the ruling and opposition floor leaders to process a supplementary budget bill for support to small business owners and citizens affected by COVID-19, preemptive support for quarantine stabilization, and job and vulnerable group support for proactive response to polarization," adding, "Although 17.9 billion KRW in supplementary budget requests from the Ministry of Science and ICT for employment recovery support have been submitted to the committee, the review has been halted due to rejection by the People Power Party members."

He emphasized, "This is a project to nurture key players leading the 4th Industrial Revolution and digital transformation, such as artificial intelligence and software talent, and we cannot irresponsibly stand by."

Cho warned, "We can no longer leave this stalled situation unattended. We once again urge the People Power Party to sincerely cooperate for the normal operation of the Science and Technology Committee," adding, "If not, please keep in mind that proceeding according to our timetable will be inevitable."

Inside and outside political circles, there is also speculation that the 5th KCSC may launch partially soon with six members recommended by the Blue House and the ruling party. The KCSC consists of three full-time commissioners with three-year terms and six part-time commissioners. Due to the process involving recommendations by the president, ruling party, and opposition party, with the ruling and opposition parties dividing the appointments 6 to 3, frequent vacancies have occurred, drawing criticism. When the 4th KCSC was launched in 2018, there was also a seven-month vacancy period.

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