Government: "Lotte Home Shopping Banned from Broadcasting Early Morning TV Home Shopping for 6 Months"

"Ban on Early Morning Broadcasts Upheld" Supreme Court Ruling
6-Month Suspension from 2 AM to 8 AM Starting February Next Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] From February next year, Lotte Home Shopping's early morning TV home shopping broadcasts will be banned for six months.

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 7th that this measure will be taken following the Supreme Court ruling confirming the suspension order issued to Woori Home Shopping (channel name Lotte Home Shopping) on May 3, 2019. The suspension period is from 2 a.m. to 8 a.m., totaling six hours.

The Supreme Court ruled on the 30th of last month that the Ministry of Science and ICT's order to ban early morning broadcasts was justified.

In March 2015, during the re-approval process of the home shopping channel, Lotte Home Shopping was found by the Board of Audit and Inspection to have omitted some executives and employees who had been punished for supply corruption in their business plan, thereby avoiding failing the fairness evaluation criteria. At that time, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (now the Ministry of Science and ICT) imposed a suspension during prime time, and the company filed an administrative lawsuit to cancel the broadcast ban and won. The government then lowered the severity of the suspension to the early morning hours, but the company, dissatisfied with this, filed another administrative lawsuit and lost in both the first and second trials.

The Ministry of Science and ICT explained that the timing of the suspension was decided considering Lotte Home Shopping and its partner companies, including small and medium-sized suppliers who had already promised product scheduling.

Additionally, to protect viewers' rights, during the suspension period, a freeze frame with subtitles notifying the broadcast interruption will be aired. Furthermore, Lotte Home Shopping was advised to notify viewers of the suspension through broadcast subtitles, its internet homepage, and other means starting 14 days before the suspension begins.

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