'Broadcast Act Amendment' Passed Alone... Ruling Party "Worst Outrage" Opposition "Guarantee of Independence"

Opposition Lawmakers in Goseong Pass the Science and ICT Committee
People Power Party: "Completely Depriving the Public of Public Broadcasting"
Democratic Party: "Only Spouting Abusive Language and Disappearing"

On December 2, Park Seong-jung, Kwon Seong-dong, Kim Young-sik, Yoon Doo-hyun, and other members of the People Power Party's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee protested Chairman Jeong Cheong-rae at the full committee meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, when he put to a vote the conclusion of the debate on the amendment to the Broadcasting Act. Members of the Democratic Party of Korea stood up from their seats and voted in favor of ending the debate on the amendment to the Broadcasting Act. 2022.12.2 [Image source=Yonhap News]

Members of the People Power Party (PPP) who are former journalists and PPP-affiliated Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee members held a picket protest against the amendment to the Broadcasting Act on December 2 in front of the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee meeting room at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, ahead of the full committee meeting. 2022.12.2 [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] On the 2nd, the amendment to the Broadcasting Act addressing the governance structure of public broadcasting was passed by the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Communications Committee through a ruling by the opposition party alone. While ruling party members criticized it as the 'worst outrage,' they themselves described it as a 'determined decision' to guarantee the independence of public broadcasting.

After the passage of the Broadcasting Act, the People Power Party's committee members issued a statement saying, "The Democratic Party passed a regressive amendment to the Broadcasting Act to further solidify the pro-labor union broadcasting system of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions' media union, which has become the Democratic Party's mouthpiece," and added, "We protested the Democratic Party's unilateral rushed legislative decision and requested a coordination committee, but the Democratic Party ignored the 90-day deliberation process set by the National Assembly and nullified it in just 2 hours and 50 minutes."

The committee members pointed out, "A more serious issue is that independent lawmaker Park Wan-joo was inserted into the coordination committee for the Broadcasting Act amendment," and criticized, "The Democratic Party applied the legislative trick used to pass the 'K-Inspection Complete Abolition' (검수완박) law again to the Broadcasting Act, committing a legislative outrage through procedural manipulation."

The ruling party stated that Chairman Jeong Cheong-rae obstructed the debate and gave only a token opportunity to one or two people, conducting the legislative decision in an authoritarian manner throughout. They also claimed, "Looking at the 21-member board structure in the regressive Democratic Party Broadcasting Act amendment, the number of National Assembly appointees was reduced from 8 to 5, and notably, the 4 appointees recommended by the Council of Chairpersons of Provincial Councils were deleted," arguing, "This was intentionally removed because the nationwide provincial council chairpersons were judged to be favorable to the People Power Party."

People Power Party lawmakers with backgrounds in journalism also released a statement, calling the Democratic Party's rushed passage of the Broadcasting Act amendment in the committee a "media version of K-Inspection Complete Abolition," and said, "It is a 'complete deprivation of public broadcasting' bill that aims to fully strip public broadcasting from the people and hand it over to certain Democratic Party factions and some factions of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions' media union."

On the other hand, Democratic Party committee members issued a joint statement saying, "We cannot allow South Korea's public broadcasting to be swayed by power any longer," and added, "We have established fair and transparent procedures for president recommendations and board composition to prevent any particular camp or regime from permanently controlling broadcasting."

They continued, "The Public Broadcasting Governance Improvement Act was also proposed by People Power Party lawmakers such as Park Sung-joong and Heo Eun-ah in the 21st National Assembly with the same intent, and it was a matter discussed by both ruling and opposition parties for six months," and said, "Yesterday, we held a coordination committee requested by the People Power Party and repeatedly deliberated, but the People Power Party coordinators only uttered abusive language and disappeared."

They further emphasized, "Substantively, the amendment to the Broadcasting Act proposed by Park Sung-joong, the People Power Party's committee secretary, reflects the spirit of the bill by incorporating the president recommendation committee and special supermajority system," and added, "By allowing various entities to recommend board members, it aims to prevent the regime from arbitrarily manipulating public broadcasting."

They sarcastically asked, "On what grounds do People Power Party lawmakers call the Public Broadcasting Governance Improvement Act pro-Democratic Party or pro-Democratic Labor Union and obstruct legitimate legislative activities?" and said, "If the administrative body Broadcasting and Communications Commission, composed of members recommended by both ruling and opposition parties, is called pro-Democratic Party, does that mean the People Power Party-appointed commissioners are mere puppets?"

Democratic Party committee members criticized, "We urge the People Power Party to abandon their intentions to seize control of broadcasting, stop blaming the Democratic Party and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, and sincerely cooperate in improving public broadcasting governance."