Supreme Court: "JTBC Son Seok-hee Diving Bell Report KCC Sanction Excessive"... Overturned and Remanded After 7 Years of Deliberation

"Public Interest Aspect Recognized to Fulfill Citizens' Right to Know"
"Possibility of Discretionary Power Deviation and Abuse in Disciplinary Actions Against Officials"

When JTBC reported an interview with the representative of the company advocating for the deployment of the underwater rescue elevator 'Diving Bell' during the search operations of the Sewol ferry disaster in 2014, the Supreme Court has ruled that the disciplinary action imposed by the Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC) for allegedly airing a one-sided claim was excessive.

According to the legal community on the 30th, the Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice Ahn Cheol-sang) overturned the lower court's ruling that had dismissed JTBC's appeal against the KCSC's broadcasting review sanction cancellation lawsuit and remanded the case to the Seoul High Court. It has been over seven years since the Supreme Court began reviewing the case in February 2016.

On April 29, 2014, the 14th day since the Sewol ferry sinking accident, Lee Jong-in, CEO of Alpha Diving Comprehensive Technology Corporation, is conducting a diving bell test in relatively calm waters about 12 km away from the accident site.

The court stated, "This interview concerns a public issue, and especially regarding alternative rescue methods that emerged as a matter of national interest, it is necessary to fully guarantee the public's right to know."

It continued, "Considering that the interview was broadcast live, requiring that only alternative rescue methods that have undergone strict prior investigation or verification be presented is undesirable as it disregards the urgent situation at the time, which necessitated considering somewhat risky or experimental rescue methods, and risks shutting down discussions on the validity and appropriateness of new rescue methods."

The court also noted, "Even if the interview is recognized as violating the obligation to maintain objectivity in broadcasting, imposing the heaviest sanction of disciplinary action is excessively harsh relative to the degree of violation," adding, "There is room to consider this as an abuse or deviation of discretion."

Furthermore, "Considering the public interest aspect of informing viewers about the opinions of maritime rescue experts on alternative rescue methods amid an urgent situation where the government's existing rescue methods were ineffective, there are sufficient circumstances to take into account the motive and content of the violation," the court added.

In April 2014, JTBC aired a live interview on 'News 9' hosted by former anchor Sohn Suk-hee with Lee Jong-in, CEO of Alpha Diving Technology Corporation, who advocated for deploying the Diving Bell in the Sewol ferry disaster search and rescue operations.

The broadcast included Lee's claims such as "It is a technology that can operate continuously for about 20 hours regardless of current speed," "The search of the 3rd and 4th floor cargo holds can be completed in just 2 to 3 days," and "Under the current rescue operation system led by the Coast Guard, the Diving Bell cannot be deployed."

The Diving Bell was actually deployed on May 1 of the same year and conducted rescue operations for about two hours but withdrew voluntarily from the site without achieving significant results.

Lee's claim that continuous rescue and search were possible regardless of currents gave hope to the families of the missing and the public, but contrary to expectations, after the formal deployment decision, issues such as weather conditions and oxygen supply prevented satisfactory results, leading to disappointment and controversy.

In August 2014, the KCSC held a meeting and decided to discipline JTBC officials. The reason was that JTBC violated the obligation to provide accurate information and maintain objectivity regarding disasters, broadcasting uncertain content as if it were factual, thereby confusing viewers.

The KCSC ruled that JTBC violated Article 14 'Objectivity' and Article 24(2) 'Accurate Information Provision on Disasters' of the Broadcasting Review Regulations and decided on the severe sanction of 'disciplinary action against officials.'

Additionally, the KCSC ordered JTBC to broadcast a 'notification broadcast' once immediately before the main broadcast of the relevant program within seven days from the date of receiving the sanction notification under the Broadcasting Act.

JTBC filed an appeal in October of the same year, winning partially in the first trial but losing in the second trial.

The Seoul High Court, which heard the second trial, pointed out that the interview was based on unclear facts and that former anchor Sohn Suk-hee, who was in charge of the broadcast at the time, did not ask critical questions.

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