'MBC Work Report' All Ruling Party Members Walk Out 'Disruption'..."MBC Should Resign" VS "People Power Should Apologize"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] The MBC business report to the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Communications Committee, held behind closed doors on the 14th, ended in disruption after a fierce dispute between the ruling and opposition parties.

On that day, the committee conducted a closed business report at MBC headquarters located in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul. During the session, the MBC current affairs program 'PD Notebook' was criticized for broadcasting suspicions without notifying whether Kim Geon-hee's double was used. Members of the People Power Party claimed that MBC President Park Seong-je gave false answers and raised issues, while the Democratic Party defended him. Lawmakers from both sides exchanged loud arguments and eventually, all People Power Party members left the session after one hour.

People Power Party members of the committee held a press conference, stating, "The MBC management must take responsibility and resign en masse," and added, "If the Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission refuses, the People Power Party will propose an impeachment motion against the Chairman." They further claimed, "MBC is abusing its role as a public broadcaster as a weapon in partisan struggles," and accused it of being "no different from the Democratic Party's 'Jjirasi distribution unit'."

On the other hand, Democratic Party members of the committee issued a statement urging, "People Power Party lawmakers who politically exploited the officially agreed schedule between the ruling and opposition parties, turned it into a battleground for political strife, and caused disruption by collectively walking out must apologize to the public." They emphasized that MBC is not subject to audit under the National Assembly Inspection Act, explaining, "Because MBC is a public broadcaster with significant public responsibilities, the closed business report during the national audit period aims to point out issues and ensure proper performance of its public functions." They also claimed, "They tried to interfere with the broadcast and exert pressure by requesting production logs related to the PD Notebook broadcast," calling this "broadcast suppression." The Democratic Party criticized, "People Power Party lawmakers who rush to the communication center to hold press conferences should be condemned," and added, "People Power Party lawmakers should study the National Assembly Act and the National Audit Act first."

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