Court Suspends Dismissal of MBC's Kwon Tae-seon; Rejects KBS's Nam Young-jin Request

EBS Chairman Yoo Si-chun (from the left), Kwon Tae-seon, Chairman of the Broadcasting Culture Promotion Association, Nam Young-jin, former KBS Chairman, and other public broadcasting directors held a press conference in front of the Yongsan Presidential Office in Seoul on the afternoon of the 21st, urging President Yoon Seok-yeol to stop the takeover of public broadcasting. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) faced a judicial setback regarding its dismissal order against Kwon Tae-seon, chairman of the Broadcasting Culture Promotion Foundation (Bangmunjin), the major shareholder of MBC. However, the court dismissed the injunction to suspend the dismissal filed by former KBS director Nam Young-jin.

On the 11th, the Seoul Administrative Court’s Administrative Division 5 (Presiding Judge Kim Soon-yeol) stated in the case where Chairman Kwon applied to suspend the execution of the dismissal order against the KCC, "The dismissal order issued by the KCC will be suspended until 30 days after the ruling on the main case is made." Chairman Kwon, whose term runs until August next year, will temporarily return to his position.

The court said, "Based solely on the materials submitted by the KCC, it is not proven that there were significantly unreasonable aspects in the decision-making process of the Bangmunjin board, which is composed of directors who independently perform their duties with various backgrounds," and added, "There is room to dispute whether Chairman Kwon neglected his duties regarding management faults or audit findings related to Bangmunjin." The court further explained, "Considering the timing of the dismissal’s effect, Chairman Kwon’s remaining term, the content of the dismissal reasons, and the expected duration until the main judgment, there is an urgent need to suspend the effect to prevent damage to Chairman Kwon."

The court also noted, "Bangmunjin is fundamentally operated through a board of directors composed of multiple directors. Dismissal should only be allowed 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 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 an injunction to suspend its execution. At the hearing held on the 31st of last month, Kwon’s side argued, "In short, the purpose and process of the KCC’s dismissal order is to destroy checks and balances," and claimed, "The KCC does not want to be checked by the media and is trying to close off breathing space."

On the same day, the injunction to suspend the dismissal filed by former KBS director Nam in protest was dismissed. The Seoul Administrative Court’s Administrative Division 2 (Presiding Judge Shin Myung-hee) stated, "The duties of a KBS director emphasize the public aspect of policy decision-making as a deliberative body," and "Although a replacement director and a new chairman have already been elected, former Director Nam is under investigation by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission." The court explained that if the dismissal’s effect were suspended now, it could cause obstacles to board deliberations and decisions or cast doubt on their fairness. Additionally, "The board is required to make decisions to improve KBS’s deteriorating management performance, but former Director Nam holds the position that 'the board has no authority to manage or supervise management and therefore cannot be held responsible for the deterioration of management performance,'" the court added.

Last month, on the 14th, the KCC recommended the dismissal of former Director Nam, who had about one year left in his term, citing KBS’s reckless management and allegations of improper use of corporate credit cards, and President Yoon Suk-yeol immediately approved it. At the hearing on the 31st of last month, former Director Nam argued, "The dismissal reason includes 'negligence in supervising management,' but since the KBS board is a deliberative and decision-making body, not a supervisory body, this is an unfair reason."

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