Union: "If complaints were instigated, it implies conflict of interest and obstruction of work"
Ryu Heerim: "Leak of complainant information... will request investigation"
Ryu Hee-rim, chairman of the Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC), has come under suspicion for allegedly mobilizing family members and acquaintances to file complaints requesting a review related to NewsTapa's cited reports, prompting the labor union to demand a thorough investigation.
On the 27th, Kim Jun-hee, head of the KCSC branch of the National Union of Mediaworkers, stated on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' that "so far, only suspicions have been raised that the chairman's family and acquaintances filed the complaints," adding, "If evidence is found that Chairman Ryu directly instigated the complaints, this could constitute obstruction of business."
Kim also referenced a past case where a KCSC staff member was dismissed for filing complaints under someone else's name and called for Chairman Ryu's resignation. He said, "In 2018, a staff member who filed proxy complaints as if submitted by another person was dismissed," and added, "If an employee does such a thing, dismissal is warranted, so if it is revealed that the chairman engaged in similar conduct, he should resign."
The core issue in this suspicion is whether Chairman Ryu was aware of the potential conflict of interest. In September, the KCSC decided to impose a total fine of approximately 120 million KRW on broadcasters that cited NewsTapa's 'Kim Man-bae - Shin Hak-rim recording files' in their reports. However, suspicions have arisen that some of the fake news review complaints submitted to the KCSC in relation to this were filed by Chairman Ryu's family and acquaintances.
The KCSC labor union believes that if Chairman Ryu mobilized family and acquaintances to instigate complaints or participated in related reviews knowing the complaints came from family and acquaintances, it could constitute a violation of the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act.
Chairman Ryu has characterized the incident as a 'leak of complainants' personal information' and announced plans to initiate a special internal audit and request a police investigation. He claims that NewsTapa and MBC, which reported on the suspicions on the 25th, used illegally leaked complainants' personal information for their coverage.
In a statement released the previous day, Chairman Ryu said, "We will investigate the criminal act of leaking complainants' information, an unprecedented crime, through special audits and legal measures such as requesting investigations, to clarify the violation of complainants' constitutional rights and obstruction of KCSC's duties," and criticized, "Moreover, NewsTapa, the party involved in the fabricated and manipulated recordings, and MBC, which cited them in reports leading to KCSC fines, used illegally leaked information as a pretext for their coverage, making it difficult to avoid conflict of interest allegations."
He continued, "Complainants' information is ultra-sensitive data protected by law to safeguard complainants and ensure the freedom to file reviews," emphasizing, "Leaking this information infringes on constitutionally guaranteed freedom of conscience and expression, as well as the public's right to freely file reviews, and hampers the functions of the KCSC."
Chairman Ryu also explained that about 180 complaints related to NewsTapa's reports were received at the time, and that the review related to NewsTapa was not initiated by complaints but was already urgently scheduled before his appointment by Acting Chairman Hwang Sung-wook's sole authority, thus unrelated to the filing of complaints.
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