Temperature Differences Within the Ruling Party Over Lee Dong-gwan's Appointment to the Korea Communications Commission

Both Ruling and Opposition Focus on Changes in Media Landscape
Lee Jun-seok "Designing Media Landscape Ahead of General Election"

Despite the failure of the confirmation report, Lee Dong-gwan, appointed as the Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission on the 25th, declared "public broadcasting structural reform" as his inaugural statement, raising the possibility of privatization of public broadcasters.

The opposition parties raised their voices in unison, criticizing it as "media control," and concerns were also expressed within the ruling party that "there is an attempt to shape the media landscape as desired."

On the 28th, Hyun Geun-taek, Deputy Director of the Democratic Research Institute of the Democratic Party, said on CBS's "Kim Hyun-jung's News Show," "Privatization of YTN is within sight, and then there are talks about whether to reconsider KBS 2TV and others; KBS 2TV could also be a target for privatization," adding, "MBC could be the same. So it seems the intention is to leave only KBS 1TV public."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In fact, there is a high possibility of moving toward a 'one public, many private' system. On the day of his inauguration, Chairman Lee declared, "The 6th Korea Communications Commission will lead fundamental structural reforms of public broadcasting," suggesting major, high-intensity structural reforms for public broadcasters. In the stock market, shares of YTN and iMBC surged more than 20% amid expectations of privatization.

The opposition points out that Chairman Lee is attempting to "seize public broadcasting" ahead of the general election. On the same day, Ko Min-jung, Chairperson of the Democratic Party's Special Committee on Media Freedom, and members of the media special committee criticized Chairman Lee's move to push for a by-election appointment to the board of the Korea Broadcasting Culture Promotion Foundation (KBCPF), the major shareholder of EBS and MBC, on his first day in office, saying, "Chairman Lee's first action at the Korea Communications Commission was to lead the 'massacre of public broadcasting directors' for media control."

They pointed out, "Is this an attempt to erase the public responsibilities of public broadcasting?criticism and monitoring of power, and the formation of a social public sphere?and turn public broadcasting into a 'Ddaengyun broadcast' to hide the incompetence of the authorities?" The term 'Ddaengyun broadcast' refers to public broadcasting that mainly airs news about President Yoon Seok-yeol, similar to the past 'Ddaengjeon news."

Former National Intelligence Service Director Park Ji-won said on National Assembly Broadcasting's "National Assembly Live," "The subject of reform for political neutrality and independence is not public broadcasting but Chairman Lee himself," adding, "If Choi Soon-sil was the figure behind the state affairs manipulation during President Park Geun-hye's administration, Chairman Lee is someone who could manipulate broadcasting under President Yoon Seok-yeol."

The ruling party evaluates Chairman Lee as the right person for "normalizing public broadcasting," but concerns have also been raised within the party that he might design the broadcasting landscape to suit the regime's tastes. Former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok said on MBC's "Kim Jong-bae's Focus," "I congratulate Chairman Lee on his inauguration and expect changes in the broadcasting environment and various media landscapes," adding, "Ahead of the general election, someone might try to design the media landscape."

He further pointed out that "(the current government) thinks on a large scale, 'We are doing very well. We are truly managing the country well. But only because of the media, we are currently undervalued.'"

Former leader Lee Jun-seok criticized the current government for attempting to redesign the media landscape as they wish and questioned the political consequences such actions might bring.

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