Park Bo-gyun "Improvement of Staff Working Conditions and Treatment Needed Starting from KBS..."

Filming Travel and Waiting Time Not Recognized as Work
"Establish Guidelines Referencing Film Industry and SBS Cases"

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 31st that it will prepare measures to improve the poor working conditions and treatment of broadcasting staff and urge KBS and MBC to participate. Minister Park Bo-gyun stated, "Behind the glamorous K-Culture, the artistic dedication and wholehearted efforts of the staff who work hard must be fairly rewarded," adding, "Public broadcasters, including KBS, where more than half of the employees receive annual salaries exceeding 100 million won, must cooperate in the improvement."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism aims to correct the unreasonable practice of not recognizing travel and waiting times for filming as working hours. An official explained, "After listening to staff opinions eight times in the first half of the year, travel, waiting, and preparation times were not recognized as working hours," and added, "In reality, they were suffering from labor far exceeding the 52-hour workweek, with no rest time."

The standard labor contract in the film industry, a similar video production sector, stipulates compliance with a 52-hour workweek and recognizes travel time due to long-distance outdoor location shoots as working hours. Preparation, cleanup, and waiting times for filming are also counted as working hours, accelerating improvements in the labor environment. A Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official said, "While films shoot 3 to 4 scenes per day over 5 to 6 months for a 2-hour screening, dramas must finish 16 episodes within a similar period, making the harshness and relative deprivation felt by staff on site more severe."

The attitudes of public broadcasters such as KBS and MBC are markedly different. This contrasts sharply with SBS, which established the 'Studio S Drama Production Guidelines' last April. SBS defines filming time as from gathering on site to the end of filming in the metropolitan area, and from departure from Yeouido to return to Yeouido in other regions, significantly improving working conditions. A Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official said, "Referring to the film industry and SBS cases, we plan to prepare guidelines to protect staff rights by October and recommend them to broadcasters," adding, "To specify these, starting next month, we will divide into fields such as PDs, writers, lighting, sound, and makeup to investigate cases of harm."

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is conducting a 'Broadcast Program Suspension Survey' as it judges that the suspension of broadcast programs during the Hangzhou Asian Games in September could lead to unpaid wages for staff. They plan to systematically review the causes and types of suspensions, the specific scale of damage, and seek alternatives, using the findings as evidence to improve unreasonable practices at broadcasters.

An official stated, "We plan to investigate whether KBS, MBC, and SBS violated the 'Artist Welfare Act' regarding their self-produced programs that were suspended during the March WBC Korea game broadcast," and added, "We will investigate unfair contract practices by checking whether written contracts were made with broadcasting staff and cast members and whether mandatory contract terms were observed, and if violations are found, we will take necessary measures such as imposing fines." The official further said, "We will improve the standard contracts in the broadcasting sector so that even if produced programs are not aired due to broadcaster circumstances, staff can receive stable wages."

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