Ruling and Opposition Parties Clash at the Legislative Subcommittee on the 'Broadcasting Act Amendment'... Opposition Demands "Processing Within the Regular Session" vs Ruling Party Proposes "Presidential Veto Recommendation"

August So-called Formation Followed by First Meeting Between Ruling and Opposition Parties
Differences Over Public Broadcasting Governance Reform

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] On the 24th, the Information and Communications Broadcasting Bill Review Subcommittee (2nd Subcommittee) under the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Communications Committee, which had been continuously stalled since the so-called reorganization in August, was normalized. Lawmakers from the ruling party made a sudden decision to participate in the bill subcommittee that day. However, during the subcommittee meeting, members from both parties clashed sharply over the details of the bill.

The National Assembly's Science and Broadcasting Committee held the 2nd Subcommittee on this day and began reviewing 25 bills, including the partial amendment bill of the Broadcasting Act. At the 2nd Subcommittee meeting held on the 15th, ruling party lawmakers from the People Power Party did not attend the meeting, but agreed to participate in the subcommittee to block the passage of the Broadcasting Act.

Previously, the ruling party demanded the chairmanship of the 2nd Subcommittee, which oversees the Korea Communications Commission, but the majority party, the Democratic Party, appointed its own whip, lawmaker Cho Seung-rae, as the subcommittee chair. In response, the ruling party boycotted attending the subcommittee meetings.

A ruling party official said, "If we leave it as it is, the majority party, the Democratic Party, will pass the bill at will, so (ruling party lawmakers) plan to attend the meeting and strongly protest," adding, "We will expose the unfairness of the Democratic Party's proposal and fulfill our responsibilities as the government and ruling party."

During the subcommittee meeting, a bill to amend the Broadcasting Act focusing on improving the governance structure of public broadcasting was discussed. Since the ruling and opposition parties showed differences over the bill's content, the operation of the subcommittee is expected to be difficult. In fact, during the subcommittee session, loud exchanges occurred between lawmakers from both parties inside the meeting room.

The opposition emphasized their determination to pass the Broadcasting Act within this regular session of the National Assembly. Before the subcommittee began, all opposition members of the Science and Broadcasting Committee held a press conference at the National Assembly, stating, "From today, the Democratic Party will begin institutional reforms to guarantee the independence and neutrality of public broadcasting," and "We will move forward boldly toward amending the Broadcasting Act." Lawmaker Cho Seung-rae said, "The bill will include measures to improve governance so that public broadcasting belongs to the people, not controlled by a specific political faction, and to allow public participation in the appointment process of the president."

However, ruling party members of the Science and Broadcasting Committee issued a statement during the subcommittee, saying, "The Democratic Party has revealed its intention to forcibly pass the amendment to the Broadcasting Act in the Science and Broadcasting Committee's broadcasting subcommittee," and "The that the Democratic Party is trying to pass is clearly a 'law for the permanent control of public broadcasting by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions media union.'" They moved to block it.

They advocated for the privatization of public broadcasting. The members stated, "Since MBC has also fallen into a labor union-controlled broadcasting rather than public broadcasting, privatization would be reasonable," and emphasized, "Among major OECD countries such as the UK, France, Germany, and Japan, except for France where the government holds 100% of shares in public broadcasting, the government does not hold shares in public broadcasting. Therefore, Korea should ultimately move toward a one public, many private broadcasting system."

They also said they would recommend the president exercise the veto power if the opposition forcibly passes the bill. The members said, "Even if it passes the Science and Broadcasting Committee, it must undergo strict scrutiny in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee," and "The Broadcasting Act passed unilaterally without bipartisan consultation will be recorded in history as a symbol of parliamentary tyranny, so we have no choice but to recommend the president exercise veto power."

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