"Branded as the 'Perennial Last Place'... ICT Issues Lost Amid Ruling and Opposition Conflict in the Science and ICT Committee"

Afternoon of the 16th, Science and ICT Committee Full Meeting
Opposition Demands Submission of TBS Audit Request to Board of Audit and Inspection
Ruling Party Says "Issue to Be Handled by Seoul Metropolitan Council"

Failure of Bipartisan Decision Coordination Causes Problems in Bill Subcommittee
Urgent ICT Issues Pile Up... 314 Pending Cases in Science and ICT Committee
Broadcasting Communications Commission Also Fails to Form 5th Committee

After one year since its launch, the 21st National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Communication Committee is being criticized for neglecting ICT sector issues amid political conflicts this year as well. It has not been able to shake off the stigma of being the "perennial last-place" subcommittee.

According to related industries on the 16th, opposition party members including those from the People Power Party belonging to the Science, Technology, Information and Communication Committee are expected not to attend the plenary meeting scheduled for 2 p.m. that day. The photo shows the plenary meeting of the committee in November last year.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] The Science, Technology, Information and Communications Committee of the 21st National Assembly, which marked its first anniversary, is being criticized for neglecting ICT sector issues amid political strife this year as well. It has yet to shed the stigma of being the "perennial last-place" subcommittee.

According to related industry sources on the 16th, opposition party members from the People Power Party, who belong to the Science and ICT Committee, are expected not to attend the plenary meeting scheduled for 2 p.m. that day. The attendance of opposition members at the Information and Communications Broadcasting Bill Review Subcommittee (hereafter Bill Subcommittee 2) scheduled for the 17th is also uncertain.

The opposition has raised issues regarding TBS's biased broadcasting and the calculation of host Kim Eo-jun's appearance fees since the end of May, demanding the submission of an audit request to the Board of Audit and Inspection. However, with the ruling Democratic Party recently deciding internally not to accept these claims, coordination between the two parties has become difficult.

A Democratic Party official from the Science and ICT Committee said, "The TBS audit request is fundamentally an issue that should be handled proactively by the Seoul Metropolitan Council, so it makes no sense to discuss it in the National Assembly." On the other hand, a staff member from the office of Park Sung-joong, the People Power Party's secretary, stated, "Since we proposed conditionally agreeing to the June schedule for the TBS audit request to the Board of Audit and Inspection from the end of May, saying we are boycotting the schedule is incorrect. Even if agreement is difficult, we intended to at least submit it, but that is being rejected."

There are also criticisms that politically motivated broadcasting issues are holding urgent bills hostage. As of the 16th, there are 314 bills pending in the National Assembly's Science and ICT Committee. The number of bills processed is 69, ranking near the bottom among standing committees except for the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee and the Gender Equality and Family Committee.

At the plenary meeting on the day, reports on current issues from the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Korea Communications Commission, and the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission are mainly expected. The Ministry of Science and ICT directly presented urgent bills such as the Data Basic Act, Digital Inclusion Act, partial amendments to the Telecommunications Business Act, and partial amendments to the Broadcasting Act through its "current issues report" document. Notably, the partial amendment to the Telecommunications Business Act, submitted by the Ministry as a government bill in February, includes provisions to support domestic online video services (OTT), among other legislative improvements.

The public hearing related to the "Online Platform User Protection Act" scheduled for the 24th of this month is also at risk of cancellation. This bill, submitted by Democratic Party lawmaker Jeon Hye-sook in December last year, aims to prevent unfair practices by big tech companies and prohibit actions that harm user interests.

The formation of the 5th Communications Standards Commission is also stalled due to conflicts between the ruling and opposition parties. Despite the flood of digital sex crimes, the 5th commission members have not been appointed, causing a backlog of 90,000 cases requiring review from January 30 to May 6 this year. Early response to digital sex crimes is essential to prevent further victimization. The issues to be addressed are diverse, including not only sex crimes but also drugs, illegal harmful information, and fake news.

The opposition, refusing to disclose personnel, insists that the Blue House must first reveal its recommended candidates before they will nominate members. Conversely, the Blue House maintains the principle that each party should disclose its candidates first, leading to a deadlock between the two parties. There are concerns that the record for delayed formation, which previously lasted up to seven months, may be broken again.