Oh Se-hoon "TBS Support Must Be Extended... Never Considered Abolition or Closure"

Attended City Council's Administrative Inquiry... "Very Different from City Council's Position"
Mayor Oh: "Even One Less Innocent Victim Must Be Achieved"

On the 22nd, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon expressed his hope that support for TBS, which is facing the risk of closure, would be extended, stating, "I am providing assistance from the standpoint of wanting to help in alignment with their movements." In particular, since Mayor Oh himself mentioned 'effective measures,' there are expectations that support for TBS will not be cut off as scheduled.

During the 323rd Seoul Metropolitan Council's administrative inquiry session that afternoon, in response to a question from Yoo Jeong-hee, a Democratic Party council member, about his thoughts on TBS, Mayor Oh said, "I have never thought of, proposed, or instructed the abolition of support or closure of TBS," making the above remarks.

Earlier, the Seoul Metropolitan Council passed an ordinance to repeal the 2022 ordinance concerning the establishment and operation of TBS, deciding to stop the grant payments. This was due to claims that programs like 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory' were politically biased. However, since TBS has relied on Seoul city grants for 70% of its budget, it requested time to prepare for independence before its status as a funded institution is revoked, and the council extended the support cutoff date to the end of May 2024.

Currently, TBS has selected the accounting firm 'Samjong KPMG' as the sales agent to find a buyer. On this day, the TBS labor union held a press conference in front of the council, requesting an extension of support, stating, "If TBS is closed, it will be the first case since the civilian government where a public broadcaster is shut down by political power."

Mayor Oh also mentioned, "Around the end of November last year, seeing TBS decide on privatization as a self-help measure and begin the procedures, I thought it was only right to assist with at least this process." He also revealed, "I suggested to some media workers without radio stations that since TBS seems to be looking for companies to buy its frequencies, they might consider that."

Above all, Mayor Oh stated, "I hope that the number of 'innocent victims' caused by this situation will decrease even by one, and I have repeatedly requested the council's cooperation to continue support until effective measures are prepared, but the council's position is very different from mine." According to Mayor Oh, it is known that many media companies have shown interest in TBS. He emphasized, "Those who want to acquire it will likely expect high efficiency relative to their investment, and there are many concerns about how to guarantee public interest and fairness, so progress is not moving quickly, but there are definitely media companies analyzing costs and benefits."

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