MBN Loses First Trial in Lawsuit Over Cancellation of Broadcast Business Reauthorization Conditions

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Tae-min] The comprehensive general programming channel MBN (Maeil Broadcasting Network) filed a lawsuit in protest against the conditions set by the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) for the re-approval of its broadcasting business license but lost in the first trial.

The Seoul Administrative Court, Administrative Division 11 (Chief Judge Kang Woo-chan) ruled on the 17th that MBN lost the lawsuit requesting the cancellation of the conditions attached to the re-approval of the broadcasting channel usage business license filed against the KCC.

Last October, MBN was sanctioned with a six-month suspension of operations by the KCC due to allegations of accounting fraud. This raised concerns about whether the KCC would extend the validity of MBN’s broadcasting business license, which was set to expire on November 30 of the same year. The KCC granted re-approval three days before the expiration date.

However, the KCC limited the validity period of the re-approval to three years and imposed 17 attached conditions to be fulfilled. MBN filed this administrative lawsuit arguing that three of these conditions infringed on its management rights and were unlikely to be realistically implemented.

While the court had previously ruled in favor of MBN in a suspension of execution in March, it referred to the fact that MBN was found guilty in a criminal trial for illegal capital allocation and judged that the conditions imposed by the KCC were lawful in the main case.

The court stated, “Originally, the approval could not have been granted, but the re-approval was issued,” and added, “Considering these circumstances, the plaintiff’s claims are not accepted.”

Meanwhile, MBN is separately pursuing an administrative lawsuit against the six-month suspension of operations. The hearing for this case is scheduled for the 23rd.

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