Jo Seung-rae: "How desperate must it be for Lee Dong-gwan's hearing boycott to be mentioned"

President Yoon Suk-yeol has nominated Lee Dong-gwan, Special Advisor for External Cooperation at the Presidential Office, as the new Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, amid opposition parties even mentioning a 'hearing boycott.' However, Cho Seung-rae, the Democratic Party's floor whip on the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, stated that "there was no discussion of a boycott."

On the 31st, Cho said on MBC's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' program, "How desperate must it be for talk of a hearing boycott to even come up?"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He explained that there had been no discussion about whether to boycott the nominee. In response to the host's question, "Was there absolutely no talk of a boycott during consultations with the floor leaders?" he said, "There was no such issue," adding, "The day before, our party's Secretary-General Cho Jung-sik mentioned extraordinary measures, and the media asked if that meant considering a boycott. I responded that we were not considering that."

On the contrary, Cho pointed out that the ruling party pushed the narrative of a 'boycott.' He said, "I believe the ruling party raised the boycott issue by issuing statements suggesting that the opposition was considering a boycott," adding, "If anyone benefits from a boycott, it would be them (the ruling party)."

Regarding the emergence of the 'hearing boycott theory,' he said, "In fact, there is a sense that confirmation hearings themselves have been weakened, as seen with the Ministry of Unification minister's hearing," and added, "This is an expression of frustration that candidates who should not even reach the hearing stage are being brought to hearings."

Cho stated, "Personally, I think it is more important to confirm the suspicions raised so far through the hearing rather than boycotting it," and proposed, "For thorough verification, I suggest that the ruling party and the nominee fully accept the opposition's demands for document submission and witness summons."

When asked by the host, "If there is no significant impact during the confirmation hearing, won't there be criticism that it is just a formality?" he replied, "Since the Yoon Suk-yeol administration took office, 15 nominees who did not receive confirmation reports have been appointed," adding, "The Presidential Office and the ruling party have been discussing this in the media for two to three months, so when the hearings actually happen, people become desensitized. However, this does not mean that decisive impacts will disappear."

The Democratic Party views Lee's nomination as a signal for establishing a 'one public, many private' broadcasting system. Shortly after his nomination, Lee stated, "South Korea also needs a public broadcaster internationally trusted and recognized like the BBC or NHK." Cho said, "Recently, I understand that efforts to actively publicize issues with the current public broadcasting system are underway in the National Assembly, mainly led by ruling party figures," adding, "In fact, attempts to privatize MBC or sell KBS 2TV are underway, effectively leaving only KBS 1TV, and even KBS 1TV is being pushed toward becoming a state-run broadcaster rather than a public broadcaster."

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