[Inside Chodong] KCC Reform and Opportunity Cost

Lee Dong-kwan's New KCC Begins with Public Broadcasting Reform
But Heightened Conflict and Social Costs Loom

People experience a greater shock from losing something than the joy of gaining an item of equal value. When they fail to make something their own or achieve their intended goal, they often cannot give up despite warnings from others, due to the “sunk cost” fallacy. This is known as the ‘Loss Aversion’ tendency in behavioral economics. When combined with the ‘Endowment Effect,’ where individuals overvalue assets they own, biases emerge.

Behavioral economics explains that because of these tendencies, people become fixated on past thoughts and feelings that were favorable to them, seeking only evidence that supports these views, which leads to stronger convictions. Ultimately, this fixation on self-serving evidence creates a vicious cycle of flawed logic, narrowing perspectives and resulting in irrational choices. The outcome is ‘loss.’

The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) has newly launched. Chairman Lee Dong-kwan, who pushed for media reform 15 years ago under the MB (Lee Myung-bak) administration, began his leadership after overcoming various suspicions and opposition, receiving the president’s approval. In his inaugural speech, he cited the preface of Dasan Jeong Yak-yong’s ‘Gyeongse Yupo’ to express a ‘theory of national ruin,’ mentioning ‘public broadcasting’ eight times, indicating the urgency and importance of the issue. On his first day, he swiftly passed a motion to replace the board members of public broadcasters, as if handling a long-standing task.

Chairman Lee is expected to focus on building justification for public broadcasting personnel reforms for the time being. In the context of “leading fundamental structural reforms of public broadcasting” and ensuring that public broadcasters, which have enjoyed unchecked power, regain trust under the scrutiny and judgment of the public, there is a high likelihood that responses to biased reporting and fake news will be intensified.

The accumulated justification will ultimately serve as a key driving force to establish a strong foundation for sanctions. The new KCC targets virtually all media and public discourse platforms, including major portals like Naver and Kakao, with ‘irresponsibility’ as the core issue. While the Moon Jae-in administration’s ruling party pursued so-called ‘media reform six laws’ through legislative functions in the National Assembly?regulating fake news and punitive damages?this administration assigns the KCC to fulfill a similar role through administrative power.

Lee Dong-kwan, Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, visited the National Seoul Memorial Cemetery in Dongjak-gu, Seoul on the 28th, signed the guestbook, and greeted attendees. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Ten days into the new KCC’s launch, fierce opposition from stakeholders and conflicts between factions seem inevitable from the outset. As has been repeated with every regime change, discussions may be difficult, and even dialogue may be impossible. If perceived as an attempt to influence the media’s watchdog and critical functions, conflicts could escalate uncontrollably. On Chairman Lee’s first day, 14 media and civic organizations, including the National Union of Mediaworkers and the Korea Journalists Association, held a rally in front of the Government Complex Gwacheon, raising their voices to “fight to dismantle the broadcasting control body that has outlived its usefulness due to outdated two-party politics.”

Errors in perception and irrational decisions inevitably lead to losses. Furthermore, the extreme conflicts arising from this cause significant socio-economic opportunity costs. If the commission rushes to address urgent issues while fixating on long-term challenges that require dialogue and compromise, the resulting losses could become immeasurable. There is also a risk of missing the opportunity to devote efforts to critical future tasks, such as restoring the journalism ecosystem devastated by the monopolistic dominance of major portal sites and fostering an environment for the growth of the media and content industries?goals Chairman Lee has repeatedly declared.

‘Gyeongse Yupo,’ written by Dasan, is a memorial proposing reforms to the king as a last will regarding governance. It points out the flaws of old and chaotic systems such as the ‘classical system’ and ‘tax system,’ and outlines reform directions to rescue the suffering people. The dice for the new KCC have been cast.

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