Park Sung-joong "The world has a one public, many private system, but we have many public, one private"

"Lee Dong-gwan, the Right Person to Lead Broadcasting and Telecommunications National Tasks"

President Yoon Suk-yeol's nomination of Lee Dong-gwan, Special Advisor for External Cooperation at the Presidential Office, as the new Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission has sparked speculation that South Korea's broadcasting sector may shift to a 'one public, many private' system. In this context, Park Sung-joong, a member of the ruling People Power Party and the party's National Assembly Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee (Science and ICT Committee) whip, pointed out, "Broadcasting systems around the world are based on one public and many private broadcasters, but we have many public and one private system."

On the 31st, Park said on CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' "Many broadcasting media experts have argued that if we want to move toward an advanced system of one public and many private broadcasters, various aspects of KBS, such as its second TV channel, should be privatized to align with that system," he said.

On the 22nd, at the full meeting of the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee held at the National Assembly, Park Seong-jung, the ruling party's secretary, is conducting the meeting on behalf of Chairman Jang Je-won, while ruling party members are absent. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Immediately after his nomination, Lee stated, "South Korea also needs a publicly trusted and internationally recognized public broadcaster like the BBC or NHK," which led opposition parties to suggest that this might signal a transition to a 'one public, many private' system.

When asked by the host whether he intended to stop conditional re-approval even if the re-approval evaluation score falls short, Park replied, "We will have to wait and see on that. During the previous Moon Jae-in administration, the score fell short twice, but conditional re-approval was granted," adding, "Since this is the third time, there are several issues this time, so a warning has been issued."

He added, "There could be various other measures regarding re-licensing," and said, "I believe that the nominee will make professional judgments on this matter."

In response, KBS has voiced criticism, saying this is an attempt to 'tame the media' or to 'favor the ruling party.' Park countered, "They do not have the power or anything to favor the ruling party," and said, "This is truly about making broadcasting fairer, to balance the current situation where it is tilted toward one side, whether ruling or opposition, and since the world is moving in that direction, we aim to secure global competitiveness in broadcasting."

When asked by the host whether he ultimately sees the ideal as one public broadcaster, meaning that MBC and EBS would also be privatized, he said, "Looking at advanced countries' systems overall, we should have a representative public broadcaster like KBS," adding, "KBS and EBS, as educational broadcasters, have their own characteristics, so it is natural for them to remain public, but other parts should be reviewed more carefully."

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