Lee Dong-kwan, Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, "Revolutionary Reform of Public Broadcasting Structure and System"

Inauguration Ceremony Held on the 28th... "Imposing Social Responsibility on Portals"

Newly appointed Chairman Lee Dong-kwan of the Korea Communications Commission stated on the 28th that he will undertake a fundamental structural reform of public broadcasting. He also plans to rectify fake news and the social responsibility of portals.

In his inaugural speech on the same day, Chairman Lee said, "We will drastically reform the structure and constitution of public broadcasting."

Chairman Lee said, "In the rapidly changing digital transformation, our country has led the mobile communication sector with 5G and achieved remarkable external growth in the K-media content sector represented by the Korean Wave. However, behind this, there remain issues to be resolved, such as endless competition with global platform operators and user damage caused by illegal information like fake news." He added, "Restoring a fair media ecosystem to regain the public's lost trust in broadcasting and journalism is also an urgent task."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

To address these issues, Chairman Lee presented four tasks: ▲ improving the constitution of public broadcasting ▲ imposing social responsibilities on portals ▲ creating an environment for the growth of the media and content industry ▲ protecting user rights.

Chairman Lee said, "If previous efforts to reform public broadcasting were merely at the level of simple remodeling, the 6th Korea Communications Commission will lead a fundamental structural reform of public broadcasting." He added, "We will clearly assign public responsibilities covering service, funding, and personnel structure reforms, and strictly monitor the systematic implementation of these responsibilities." Regarding portals, he said, "Due to changes in the media environment, internet portals already perform a significant part of the functions and roles of the press, so we will impose social responsibilities on them." "Furthermore, we will prevent monopolistic abuses by portals over news and promote the restoration of the devastated journalism ecosystem and the protection of consumer rights."

Chairman Lee also stated that he will establish a new media regulatory system. He said, "We will completely reform the re-licensing and re-approval system so that broadcasters can strengthen their competitiveness and focus on service innovation." He added, "We will innovate broadcasting regulations in preparation for the current reality and future where media big blur phenomena have become commonplace due to the emergence of online video services (OTT)." He further said, "We will promote policies so that new types of media services receive appropriate regulation along with broad support." Additionally, he said, "While enhancing the autonomy and innovativeness of digital new industries such as artificial intelligence and metaverse, we will implement balanced policies that protect user rights." He added, "We will adopt self-regulation as a principle in the digital new industry sector but establish the minimum necessary institutional measures to resolve user inconveniences."

He also conveyed a message to the staff of the Korea Communications Commission. Chairman Lee quoted a phrase from the preface of 'Gyeongse Yupo' by Dasan Jeong Yak-yong: 'Ilmo ilbal mubibyeongi (一毛一髮無非病耳) geumgeum bulgae pilmangguk (及今不改必亡國),' which means, "Not a single hair or strand is without disease. If we do not reform now, the country will surely perish." He said, "This saying is the determination we absolutely need now," and added, "I urge you not to fear the backlash from long-standing problems and vested interest cartels, but to stand proudly as the protagonists of reform in the broadcasting and telecommunications media sector for future generations."