Democratic Party Halts Forced Passage of Media Arbitration Act... Ruling and Opposition Parties Form Special Committee to Discuss Overall Media Issues (Comprehensive)

Ruling Party Temporarily Halts Forced Passage of Media Arbitration Act
Equal Number of 18 Lawmakers from Ruling and Opposition Parties
Special Committee Chairmanship and Non-Negotiating Group Assignments to Be Discussed Later

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy reporters Naju-seok and Jeon Jin-young] On the 29th, the ruling and opposition parties agreed to establish a Special Committee on Media System Improvement to discuss the Media Arbitration Act. Instead of forcibly passing the Media Arbitration Act, which includes punitive damages provisions, the Democratic Party of Korea decided to form a special committee composed equally of ruling and opposition members by the end of the year to discuss not only the Media Arbitration Act but also the entire range of media-related laws such as the Information and Communications Network Act, Newspaper Act, and Broadcasting Act.

On the same day, the floor leaders of both parties met at the National Assembly in the afternoon and agreed to reconsider the passage of the Media Arbitration Act. The Democratic Party, which had previously signaled a forced passage, agreed to discuss institutional improvements through the special committee with a goal set for the end of this year.

The agreement publicly released by the floor leaders stated, "A Special Committee on Media System Improvement will be formed," and "The committee will cover the overall media system, including the Media Arbitration Act, Information and Communications Network Act, Newspaper Act, and Broadcasting Act."

The 18-member special committee will be composed equally of ruling and opposition members and will have an activity period until the end of this year.

Yoon Ho-jung, floor leader of the Democratic Party, told reporters after announcing the agreement, "There were concerns raised by journalists, seven media organizations, civic groups, and experts that the National Assembly was only discussing laws related to damage relief first." He added, "Requests continued to discuss not only the Media Arbitration Act but also the Broadcasting Act amendment to improve the governance structure of broadcasting companies, the Information and Communications Network Act provisions concerning the responsibility of individual media, and the Newspaper Act provisions to strengthen the fairness of internet news service providers, covering four laws related to the overall media system." He explained, "While discussing the Media Arbitration Act, each relevant standing committee said they would handle related laws, but media stakeholders pointed out that the will was not clear. Therefore, we reached an agreement with the opposition to form a special committee to discuss comprehensive media reform."

Kim Ki-hyun, floor leader of the People Power Party, said, "Matters related to media and media systems are divided among several standing committees," and added, "There was a judgment that it is necessary to achieve efficiency by having more unified discussions and agreements. To broadly collect opinions from many related organizations and media experts, it was necessary to gather public opinion and reflect it while each standing committee member is present, so we formed the special committee."

It was decided that the chairperson of the special committee, whether it will be assigned to either side or if the special committee seats will be allocated to minor parties, will be discussed later in a meeting between the chief deputy representatives of the ruling and opposition parties.

Meanwhile, regarding the agreement on forming the special committee, Floor Leader Yoon said, "We have not abandoned the punitive damages provisions of the Media Arbitration Act," and added, "We will collect many opinions."