'Broadcast Takeover Parachute' Criticism, Park Min KBS President Candidate Says "I Will Establish the Identity of Public Broadcasting"

Verbal Clash Between Opposition Lawmaker and Min Hyung-bae Over KBS President Application Background
Min Hyung-bae: "Didn’t Broadcasting Commissioner Lee Dong-gwan Propose It?"
Park Min: "Did You See That?" Getting Agitated

Park Min, the candidate for KBS president, said at the confirmation hearing on the 7th, "I will properly establish the identity of the public broadcaster."

Park made these remarks regarding KBS management at the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee on the same day. The hearing featured contrasting questions and answers between ruling and opposition party lawmakers about the future direction of KBS operations. Opposition lawmakers emphasized the claim that Park is a personnel appointment aimed at controlling KBS, while ruling party lawmakers stressed the need for reform at KBS.

Min Hyung-bae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, introduced research findings by scholars that after a parachute appointment was made during the Lee Myung-bak administration, a sequence of biased executive appointments, suppression through personnel measures, abolition or reduction of government-critical programs, and replacement with programs tailored to the tastes of those in power followed. He pointed out the background of Park’s appointment in this context.

Park Min, a candidate for KBS president, is responding to questions from lawmakers at the confirmation hearing held on the 7th by the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Park said, "If I were at the stage of inserting a parachute president as mentioned in the research, I would operate KBS completely differently from the specified content thereafter." Additionally, regarding the background of Park’s application for the KBS presidency, Min pointed out the possibility of coordination with Lee Dong-gwan, chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, among others. In response, Park said, "I chose based on my own convictions." Min then said, "Didn’t Chairman Lee approach you? How can you deny that it was done according to President Yoon Seok-yeol’s will?" Park retorted, "Did you see that?" and answered, "That never happened."

Song Seok-jun, a member of the People Power Party, also pointed out issues such as the need for a system to prevent false and distorted reporting, as well as ideological bias among external moderators of KBS programs. In response, Park said, "I think we need to establish various institutional measures, including gatekeepers within the news department," and added, "Especially for intentional false or distorted reporting, a system that can hold people fully accountable until the end is necessary."

Regarding external current affairs program hosts, Park said, "Unlike news, in current affairs programs, the hosts and panelists are all important," and added, "We will create a system to ensure fairness, and since there are many internal talents, replacing personnel internally would also have a budget-saving effect, so we will actively consider it."

Regarding overall KBS management, Park said, "I believe that by selecting and focusing, reducing unnecessary expenses, and investing intensively in proper content to ultimately enhance competitiveness, KBS can develop self-sustainability without relying on the public."

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