Board of Audit and Inspection Demands Dismissal and Removal of KCC Official Over 'TV Chosun Score Manipulation'

'Broadcasting Commission Regular Audit Report' Released... Illegal and Unfair Practices Confirmed in Reapproval Process
Dismissal of Former Broadcasting Policy Director, Request for Dismissal of Former Operations Support Manager

On the 28th, the Board of Audit and Inspection requested disciplinary action against officials of the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) suspected of manipulating the comprehensive programming channel (general programming channel, GPC) re-approval evaluation results of TV Chosun. This comes 11 months after the audit confirmed illegal or unfair aspects in the re-approval process.

On the same afternoon, the Board of Audit and Inspection released the "KCC Regular Audit Report" containing these details, demanding the dismissal of former Broadcasting Policy Bureau Chief Yang Mo and the termination of former Operations Support Section Chief Cha Mo, both implicated in the allegations. Although both were indicted without detention on charges including official secrets leakage and placed on standby, they remain affiliated with the KCC.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Board of Audit and Inspection judged their misconduct as "serious and intentional." It is alleged that former Chief Yang and former Section Chief Cha deliberately lowered TV Chosun’s re-approval evaluation scores after understanding the intentions of then KCC Chairman Han Sang-hyuk.

Previously, on March 19, 2020, twelve independent evaluators of the KCC’s GPC re-approval committee submitted their evaluation sheet for TV Chosun to the KCC. The aggregated results showed a total score of 654.63 points and a 'public responsibility of broadcasting' score of 105.95 points, both exceeding the approval criteria. However, former Chief Yang, who received the report from former Section Chief Cha, conveyed the scoring results to former Chairman Han, who reportedly responded with remarks such as "This will get noisy" and "We will get some criticism." According to the Board of Audit and Inspection, former Chief Yang and former Section Chief Cha then influenced two evaluators through Professor Yoon Mo, the evaluation committee chair, to revise the scores.

Former Chief Yang denied the allegations during the audit investigation, stating that he never consulted former Section Chief Cha about score revisions after tallying the scores and did not meet individually with some evaluators. However, based on testimonies from KCC staff that former Section Chief Cha, who was having a farewell party with KCC employees during a retreat, received a call from former Chief Yang and subsequently held a second drinking session with the evaluators, the Board of Audit and Inspection concluded that former Chief Yang’s claims were false.

Additionally, the Board of Audit and Inspection pointed out that during the 2017 KBS re-licensing evaluation conducted by the KCC, although conditions for improving the personnel structure were imposed, the KCC inadequately monitored whether the plans were properly implemented. In the 2017 regular audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection, KBS was criticized for having a 'top-heavy' personnel structure, with senior positions (level 2 or above) exceeding 60% of the total staff.

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