KBS Union "Suspicion of Corporate Card Use" VS Director Nam Young-jin "Gift Purchase"

Union Demands "Confess to Corporate Card Allegations and Resign"
Chairman Nam Explains "Board Dinner and Year-End Party Expenses"

On the 12th, the KBS Labor Union confirmed suspicious circumstances suggesting that Nam Young-jin, chairman of KBS, illegally used the corporate card and demanded his resignation.

The KBS Labor Union confirmed on the 12th that Chairman Nam Young-jin is suspected of illegally using the corporate card and has demanded his resignation.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

In an emergency statement issued that day, the KBS Labor Union pointed out, "Chairman Nam purchased unidentified goods worth several million won multiple times with the corporate card from an agricultural corporation in a local area from 2021 to this year’s year-end and beginning of the year, and also bought unidentified goods worth hundreds of thousands of won from another company in the same region."

They added, "The location of the company selling the goods is only a few kilometers away from Chairman Nam’s hometown residence," and claimed, "Repeated expenditures near his hometown inevitably raise suspicions of illegal use."

Furthermore, they explained, "During the same period, Chairman Nam spent nearly 1.5 to 3 million won per meal several times at a Chinese restaurant near the company using the corporate card," and stated, "The fact that company money equivalent to 430 bowls of jajangmyeon was spent in one day is judged to be highly inappropriate amid deficits and financial crises."

They also demanded, "Chairman Nam should resign as a normal course of action for causing a major crisis by separating the collection of license fees, which hastened the death of public broadcasting," and urged, "Confess to the corporate card-related suspicions and resign."

In response, Chairman Nam Young-jin explained in a statement that day, "The unidentified goods were dried persimmons, and the Chinese restaurant expenses were used for the executive dinner and year-end party," adding, "On December 28, 2021, I paid 660,000 won to send boxes of dried persimmons, a specialty product of Yeongdong-gun, Chungbuk, priced at 33,000 won each, to 20 people including directors and the board secretariat staff."

Regarding the 'Chinese restaurant expenditure details,' he clarified, "I paid 1,559,000 won on October 26, 2022, and 2,830,000 won on December 28 of the same year at a Chinese restaurant in Yeouido," explaining, "The October 26 payment was for a dinner attended by about 20 people including the executive team after the regular board meeting, and the 2.83 million won was used for a year-end party attended by the board, executive bodies, center heads, and related staff, with about 30 attendees."

Meanwhile, the KBS Labor Union is known to have a conservative orientation. It is a separate union from the nationwide progressive-oriented Korean Federation of Mediaworkers’ Unions (KCTU) KBS Headquarters.

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