Large-scale personnel changes carried out at South Korean public broadcaster KBS have ripples; can political neutrality be maintained with many people pro-government?

On the 12th of this month, Park Min, who was appointed by President Yoon Seo-gyeol, was appointed as the new president of South Korean public broadcasting KBS, and nine other executives, including the head of the news headquarters, main
A large-scale personnel change has been carried out in which 60 people at the director and general manager level in key departments have been replaced, causing a stir. In addition, there has been a series of changes in program performers and anchors, and the National Democratic Trade Union Confederation (Democratic Labor Union)
The media union KBS Headquarters, which is affiliated with the Union of Labor Union (Japan Labor Federation), objected, saying, ``The recent personnel changes and measures such as excluding some programs from programming violate the ``freedom and independence of broadcast programming'' guaranteed by the Broadcasting Act.'' are doing
. Many of the new executives, including President Park Shin, have been appointed as people close to the administration. As a public broadcaster, there are questions about whether it can maintain political neutrality.
KBS is Korea's largest broadcasting station with two television channels and six radio channels. through a subsidiary
It also operates cable television and satellite broadcasting. As a public broadcaster, it collects subscription fees from the public, but like commercial broadcasters, it also receives advertising fees. Last year's revenue of KBS was 1.5035 trillion U.
Of the 172.938 billion yen (approximately 172.938 billion yen), license fee income accounted for 45.3% at 693.5 billion won, and advertising revenue accounted for 17.3% at 260.1 billion won.
To prevent non-payment of license fees, since 1994, the Korea Electric Power Corporation has collected them along with electricity charges. This method
While it brought stable income to KBS, there was strong opposition from the public as the system effectively forced people to pay even if they did not watch the broadcast. Therefore, in March of this year, the South Korean Presidential Office decided to
Opinions are being solicited from the public regarding separate collection of charges and electricity charges. In response to overwhelming support, the President's Office decided in June of this year to establish the Broadcasting and Communications Commission and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources.
) is recommended to take separate collection measures. The committee announced a revised bill for the Broadcasting Law Enforcement Order that includes separate collection, and the South Korean government approved the revised bill at a Cabinet meeting in July. In the future, if the separation of collection proceeds, the
Receiving fee income is expected to fall to around 100 billion won due to lower revenue from payers and increased costs. Following the decision on the amendment bill, KBS asked whether the amendment enforcement order violates the Constitution.
The Constitutional Court was asked to make a decision. At the time, CEO Kim Eui-yeol said in a statement, ``We will have to waste more than 200 billion won to collect license fees, which will lead to the reduction or cancellation of programs.
Dew. It is difficult to accept the amendments, as they are expected to cause great damage and confusion to the people." Mr. Kim may be subject to a resolution to dismiss him at an extraordinary board meeting of KBS held in September.
Decided. President Yun Seok-Yeong approved this, and Kim was dismissed from his position as president. Kim was appointed during the previous Moon Jae-in administration, but a proposal to dismiss him was submitted in August by a board member affiliated with the ruling party.
was. The reasons for his dismissal included the deterioration of KBS's management and biased reporting that was influenced by the wishes of the current administration (the Moon administration). KBS's successor candidate Park Min, who is said to be from the ``Yun Seok-yue (presidential) faction''
Selected Mr. On the 12th of this month, President Yoon appointed Park as the new president of KBS after receiving a request from the board of directors. Mr. Park is 60 years old from Gyeongsangnam-do (Gyeongsangnam-do) and Changwon (Changwon) in the southeastern part of the country.
age. After graduating from the Department of Political Science at Seoul University, he joined the daily newspaper Bunka Ilbo in 1991 and served as social affairs director, political director, and editor-in-chief. At the inauguration ceremony held on the 13th, Park said, ``As a public broadcaster,
We will work to re-establish our identity and help KBS regain public support and financial stability." He also said, ``In order for KBS to regain trust, it will need to improve its capabilities, results, and efficiency.''
We must transform into a common-sense organization that emphasizes the importance of ``We should not be afraid of large-scale organizational reorganization or personnel changes.If self-reform takes precedence, trust in KBS will be restored.''
Beta. As promised, Park carried out the personnel changes of nine executives, including the head of the news headquarters, and 60 executives at the director-general level of major departments. In addition, K, which was criticized in some quarters as biased reporting
In addition to changing the hosts of BS 1st Radio's current affairs program ``JIN WOO Live'' and KBS 2nd TV's ``The Live,'' the ``face'' of the main news program ``News 9'' has also been changed.
Labor unions objected to this situation. The KBS headquarters of the National Media Labor Union said, ``We plan to prosecute officials under Park Min (new president) for violating the Broadcasting Act and the collective bargaining agreement.'' to the current government
The Hankyoreh, a critical Korean newspaper, reported, ``The violation of policy autonomy and unfair personnel appointments are causing controversy within KBS.'' The paper has been reporting on this since the time the KBS board of directors selected Park as a candidate for president.
has cast doubt on his judgment. An editorial published on the 14th of last month criticized the Yun administration, saying, ``With the general election coming up, it seems that the intention is to finally make public broadcasting a ``broadcasting station that is close to the government''.'' “It’s like this.
"History's lesson is that you will always be judged on how you behave," he said. Since KBS collects license fees from the public, it goes without saying that it is required to be politically neutral. Newly
Many of the appointed KBS executives are said to have been removed from key duties immediately after the Moon administration took office. If only people close to the government are appointed to executive positions every time the government changes, ``Public Broadcasting Corporation''
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