Han Hanjae of Democratic Party Proposes Broadcasting Act Amendment to Guarantee Universal Viewing Rights for Olympics and World Cup

Broadcasting Rights Must Be Provided on Fair Terms
Universal Viewing Rights Guarantee Committee to Mediate Disputes

A bill has been proposed to guarantee universal viewing rights for events of great national interest, such as the Olympics and the World Cup.

On March 16, Jeongae Han, Policy Chief of the Democratic Party of Korea, announced that she had sponsored an amendment to the Broadcasting Act aimed at expanding and guaranteeing the viewing rights of the general public for major sporting events and other key occasions of significant national interest.

Hanjungae, Chair of Policy Committee of the Democratic Party of Korea. 2025.10.23 Photo by Hyunmin Kim

In February of this year, the Milano-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics were held without terrestrial TV coverage for the first time in 62 years, as broadcasters failed to reach an agreement on the resale of Olympic broadcasting rights.

This occurred because, after JTBC secured exclusive broadcasting rights for both the Summer and Winter Olympics from 2026 to 2032 and for the World Cup from 2025 to 2030, it attempted to resell the rights to the three major terrestrial broadcasters, but negotiations fell through. Concerns have also been raised that universal viewing rights for the upcoming North and Central America World Cup could be restricted.

There are criticisms that by exclusively broadcasting this Winter Olympics, JTBC undermined the general public's "universal viewing rights" as stipulated in Article 76-3 of the Broadcasting Act.

In response, Policy Chief Han has proposed amending the Broadcasting Act so that events such as the Summer and Winter Olympics and the World Cup can be watched by the general public without the need for paid TV services. The amendment's key provisions include requiring the holder of the broadcasting rights to offer those rights to terrestrial broadcasters and other providers upon request, under equal and fair conditions without undue discrimination, and granting the Universal Viewing Rights Guarantee Committee the authority to mediate disputes related to broadcasting rights.

Policy Chief Han stressed, "We will quickly pass the amendment to the Broadcasting Act to guarantee universal viewing rights, ensuring that all of our citizens can easily watch nationally significant events such as the Olympics and the World Cup."

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