MBC 'Protest Visit' by Ruling Party Lawmakers... "Biased Reporting Favoring a Specific Camp"

Park Dae-chul, chairman of the MBC Biased and Manipulated Broadcasting Fact-Finding Task Force (TF), held a press conference on the 28th at the MBC headquarters in Mapo-gu, Seoul, to protest the coverage of President Yoon Seok-yeol's overseas trip. Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Regarding President Yoon Seok-yeol's 'vulgar language controversy,' ruling party lawmakers visited MBC, which first reported the issue, on the 28th to protest, raising their voices that MBC "has continuously engaged in biased reporting by siding with a particular faction."

Park Dae-chul, head of the People Power Party's MBC Biased Broadcasting Manipulation Truth Investigation Committee, visited the MBC headquarters in Sangam-dong along with members of the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, demanding an explanation about the broadcast, saying, "The broadcast by MBC that manipulated video subtitles during the diplomatic tour is nothing more and nothing less than the biased and factional broadcasting MBC has done so far."

Park questioned, "On what grounds did you include unverified facts definitively in the subtitles?" and asked, "Even voice analysis experts said it is 'difficult to confirm the content 100%.' On what standards and basis, with what certainty and verification process was this reported?"

He added, "The content circulated on social networking services (SNS) before MBC's report was exactly the same as the subtitles reported by MBC," and asked, "Who was the initial leaker?"

People Power Party lawmaker Kwon Seong-dong pointed out, "If Park Sung-je, MBC president, is just and confident about this incident, he should come out here and explain," and said, "MBC manipulated the subtitles and distorted the president's remarks, deceiving the public. This is a 'nationwide voice phishing.'"

Park Sung-joong, also from the same party, emphasized, "The protest visit to the MBC headquarters was to hear an explanation about this broadcast manipulation," and stressed, "This is by no means a full-scale war with the media. We neither have the capability nor even the thought to do so."