New Director of Defense Public Relations Office... Controversy Over Assault Record

Chae Il, former head of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) News Department, has been newly appointed as the Director of the Defense Public Relations Agency. The newly appointed director has been controversial due to a past incident involving assault on a junior colleague.

The position of Director of the Defense Public Relations Agency is an open position designed to enhance competitiveness in the public sector by appointing the most qualified candidate, regardless of whether they are inside or outside the public service, who meets the job requirements, especially in positions requiring expertise.

The Ministry of National Defense explained that the new director, Chae Il, worked as a KBS reporter covering various fields such as international affairs, science, and medical topics, and has diverse experience as head of KBS’s investigative reporting department and as a member of the review committee in the compliance office, making him a broadcasting expert.

However, in 2010, while working at KBS, the new director attempted to air promotional articles for a golf equipment company and assaulted a junior reporter who was verifying this by throwing a TV remote control and slapping him. When this fact became known, he posted an explanation on the company bulletin board and resigned from his position.

Regarding this, the Ministry of National Defense stated, "We believe that the necessary personnel verification process was conducted and confirmed by the relevant specialized agencies."

The Defense Public Relations Agency is a comprehensive media organization directly under the Ministry of National Defense, operating Defense TV, Defense Daily, Defense FM, Defense Journal, and Defense Nuri. The position of director has been vacant for three months since the previous director, Park Chang-sik, retired in January.

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