False Demonstrations on Home Shopping... CJ OnStyle, Lotte Home Shopping, and Others Receive 'Warnings'

KCSC Approves at Plenary Meeting
11 Home Shopping Companies Receive 'Warning' Sanctions
PP Also Warned for Promoting Hospitals with Appearance Intentions

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] On the 27th, the Korea Communications Standards Commission held a plenary meeting at the Broadcasting Hall in Mokdong, Seoul, and issued a 'caution' measure to 11 product sales broadcasts that staged false demonstration scenes or advertised specific hospitals.

Six companies, including CJ OnStyle, Lotte Home Shopping, Home&Shopping, Gongyoung Shopping, K Shopping, and Shinsegae Shopping, broadcasted as if they could easily remove grease stains while actually removing contaminants made from coffee, etc., during the process of selling detergents.

Five companies, including GS SHOP, Home&Shopping, K Shopping, SK Stoa, and Shopping NT, broadcasted as if they could easily clean pet urine stains while actually removing contaminants made from highly volatile iodine solution when selling steam cleaners.

Additionally, the Korea Communications Standards Commission decided to issue a 'caution' to three channel operators (PP) medical information programs?SBS CNBC's "Doctor Q Naemomeul Malhada," GTV's "Health Plus," and Pax Economy TV's "Nae Mom Geongang Change Up"?which exposed phone numbers connecting to hospitals affiliated with the appearing doctors and induced or encouraged medical consultations.

These programs displayed the phone numbers connecting to hospitals as subtitles and aired content encouraging consultations with the hospitals during the broadcast, such as the host mentioning, "Phone consultations will continue even after the broadcast."

The Korea Communications Standards Commission can impose legal sanctions when the degree of legal violation in broadcast programs is serious, and in cases of minor violations, it can issue simple recommendations or opinions. Legal sanctions received by home shopping companies act as deduction factors in the subsequent re-approval review process. ▲Caution is 1 point ▲Warning is 2 points ▲Disciplinary action against related personnel is 4 points ▲Fines are 10 points deducted.

The Korea Communications Standards Commission stated, "Broadcasts have an obligation to deliver accurate information to viewers," and added, "In a situation where home shopping usage by viewers has increased due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, legal sanctions are inevitable as a warning against obstructing rational purchases with misleading information to consumers." They explained that severe disciplinary actions will be unavoidable if similar cases occur in the future.