The Democratic Party Forces Fast-Tracking of Media Arbitration Act Subcommittee... 'Up to 5 Times' Punitive Damages

The 2nd Subcommittee on the Review of Culture and Arts Bills of the 389th National Assembly Extraordinary Session's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee is being held on the afternoon of the 27th at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Geum Bo-ryeong] The Democratic Party of Korea forcibly passed a revision bill to the Media Arbitration Act on the 27th at the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee’s Subcommittee on Culture and Arts Legislation, which imposes punitive damages obligations on media outlets that publish so-called 'fake news.'

The Culture Committee held the Subcommittee on Culture and Arts Legislation the previous day and approved a committee alternative that combined 16 revision bills to the Media Arbitration Act by vote.

The revision bill was passed with the support of three ruling party Democratic Party members and Kim Ui-gyeom of the Open Democratic Party among the seven subcommittee members.

Lee Dal-gon and Choi Hyung-doo, members of the People Power Party, strongly opposed the revision bill and protested. The People Power Party stated that they "did not participate in the vote." Kim Seung-soo, also of the People Power Party, was absent from the subcommittee due to self-quarantine after contact with a COVID-19 confirmed case.

The approved revision bill reflects the opinion of the senior expert of the Culture Committee on the alternative prepared by the Democratic Party. In response, the People Power Party claimed that "they were not given the contents of the alternative brought by the Democratic Party until just before the bill’s approval" and argued that "the subcommittee’s resolution itself is invalid." They raised procedural issues regarding the bill’s handling.

The revision bill includes provisions allowing claims for punitive damages up to five times for false or fabricated reports caused by intentional or gross negligence of the media. It also requires that corrections be published with the same time length and size as the original report.