Five KBS Board Members Submit Proposal to Revoke Nomination of President Jangbeom Park

Following Court Ruling on Illegality of Appointing Seven Board Members
"Nomination Must Be Revoked"

Jangbum Park, President of KBS. Photo by Hyunmin Kim

Five KBS board members have submitted a proposal to the board of directors to revoke the nomination of Jangbeom Park as President of KBS.

On April 20, KBS board members Chantae Kim, Ilhyeong Ryu, Sangyo Lee, Jaegwon Jeong, and Sookhyun Jo issued a statement announcing, "We have submitted a motion to cancel the resolution nominating President Park." They argue that, following a court ruling that the appointment of the board members who recommended President Park was illegal, the related resolution is also invalid. The proposal is expected to be discussed at the regular board meeting scheduled for April 29.

Previously, the Korea Communications Commission, operating as a two-member body, recommended seven individuals—Soonbeom Kwon, Hyunsun Ryu, Gisuk Seo, Gun Lee, Incheol Lee, Hyup Heo, and Seonguk Hwang—as KBS board members, who were then appointed by former President Yoon Suk Yeol. Subsequently, during an extraordinary board meeting held on October 23, 2024, only these seven board members attended and nominated Jangbeom Park as President.

However, on January 22, the Seoul Administrative Court ruled that the process of appointing these seven board members was illegal and ordered that the President's appointment be revoked. The court found that resolutions passed with only two commissioners of the Korea Communications Commission present did not meet the quorum requirement and therefore had no legal effect.

The five board members who submitted the proposal stressed that, based on the ruling, the resolution to nominate President Park was invalid as it was carried out by unqualified board members. They stated, "The resolution is invalid as it did not receive a majority vote out of the 11 board members," adding, "It is the board's responsibility to correct procedural errors." They further emphasized that this proposal is not a sanction against President Park, but rather an effort to rectify the resolutions made by an unlawfully constituted board.

The five board members believe that the court's decision will be upheld in the ongoing appeal. They pointed out, "President Jaemyung Lee, the appointing authority, has submitted a waiver of appeal regarding the first trial, thereby acknowledging the illegality of the appointment."

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