People Power Party Visits MBC to Protest 'Kim Gun-hee Phone Call' Report... Democratic Party Calls It "Media Gag"

Kukim "Is Public Broadcasting Acting as Lee Jae-myung's Campaign Worker?"
Democratic Party "Unfair Attempt to Seize Broadcasting is Media Control"

On the morning of the 14th, Kim Ki-hyun, floor leader of the People Power Party, and other party leaders visited MBC to protest, following MBC's announcement that it would broadcast the 7-hour recorded phone conversation of Kim Gun-hee, wife of presidential candidate Yoon Seok-yeol. 2022.1.14 Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Hyunju Lee and Donghoon Jung] The People Power Party is making desperate efforts to prevent the release of a recorded phone conversation with Kim Gun-hee, the spouse of presidential candidate Yoon Seok-yeol. On the morning of the 14th, 20 members including Floor Leader Kim Ki-hyun's leadership team and members of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information, Broadcasting and Communications Committee visited MBC to protest. The broadcast is scheduled for the 16th. In a prior floor strategy meeting, Floor Leader Kim stated, "At this critical time, just over 50 days before the presidential election, the public broadcaster, which should maintain strict neutrality, seems to be acting as a campaigner for Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party candidate," adding, "It reeks of political manipulation." Kim and others engaged in physical scuffles with civic groups blocking their access.

On the other hand, the Democratic Party criticized the act as gagging the media. Democratic Party Floor Leader Yoon Ho-jung said, "This is an unjust attempt to seize control of the broadcast and a form of intimidation aimed at disciplining the press," and added, "It is rare to see a political party directly visiting media outlets to interfere with the autonomy and independence of the press in such a manner."

Meanwhile, the Seoul Western District Court began a hearing at 11 a.m. on the same day regarding a provisional injunction filed by Kim to prohibit MBC from releasing the seven-hour recording containing her phone conversations. After hearing opinions from legal representatives of both Kim and MBC, the court is expected to deliver a decision as early as the afternoon or by the next day at the latest. In a phone call with a YouTube broadcast official, Kim reportedly expressed her views on criticism of the Moon Jae-in administration, the prosecution investigation of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, and the non-appearance of Jeong Dae-taek as a witness at the National Assembly audit.

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