Court Suspends Dismissal of Bangsongjin Chairman Kwon Tae-seon... Regulatory Commission Halted

The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) faced a legal setback regarding its dismissal order against Kwon Tae-seon, chairman of the Broadcasting Culture Promotion Foundation (BCPF), the major shareholder of MBC.

Former Chairman Kwon Tae-seon of the Korea Broadcasting Culture Promotion Foundation is speaking while attending the hearing for the suspension of the dismissal order by the Korea Communications Commission at the Seoul Administrative Court in Seocho-gu on the morning of the 31st of last month.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 11th, the Seoul Administrative Court's Administrative Division 5 (Presiding Judge Kim Soon-yeol) ruled in the case where Chairman Kwon filed for a suspension of the dismissal order against the KCC, stating, "The dismissal order issued by the KCC shall be suspended in effect until 30 days after the final judgment of the main case."

The court stated, "Based solely on the materials submitted by the KCC, it has not been proven that there were significantly unreasonable aspects in the procedure by which the BCPF board of directors, composed of independently functioning directors with diverse backgrounds, made its decision." It added, "There is room to dispute whether Chairman Kwon neglected his duties concerning management errors or audit findings related to BCPF." Furthermore, the court explained, "Considering the timing of the dismissal order's effect, Chairman Kwon's remaining term, the content of the reasons for the order, and the expected duration until the main judgment, there is an urgent need to suspend the order to prevent damage to Chairman Kwon."

The court also noted, "BCPF is fundamentally operated through a board of directors composed of multiple directors. Dismissal should only be permitted when an objective situation arises that hinders duty performance, such as the fundamental loss of trust in a director's ability to perform duties. Ultimately, this aligns better with the public interest of ensuring the independence and fairness of broadcasting as pursued by the Broadcasting Culture Promotion Foundation Act."

Earlier, on the 21st of last month, the KCC decided to dismiss former Chairman Kwon, citing negligence in the management and supervision duties over MBC and its affiliates, and inadequate verification during the MBC president appointment process. In response, former Chairman Kwon filed a lawsuit to cancel the dismissal and applied for a provisional injunction to suspend its execution. During the hearing held on the 31st of last month, Chairman Kwon's side argued, "In a word, the purpose and process of the KCC's dismissal order is the destruction of checks and balances," and claimed, "The KCC does not want to be checked by the media, so it is trying to close the space to breathe."

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