On the 27th, opposition parties including the Democratic Party of Korea announced that they have submitted an impeachment motion against Kim Hong-il, Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, and plan to hold a vote on it between the 3rd and 4th of next month.
The opposition's rush to submit the impeachment motion appears to be related to the appointment of directors to the Korea Broadcasting Culture Promotion Foundation (MBC's major shareholder).
The term of the foundation's directors expires on August 12, with the KBS board term ending on August 31 and the EBS board term on September 14.
Appointments of public broadcasting directors are usually made according to the expiration of terms, but currently, the opposition strongly opposes the ruling party's efforts to reorganize the board structure of the Korea Communications Commission's two-person system and the foundation's board to their advantage, making smooth processing unlikely.
If successors are not appointed, the existing directors will maintain their positions, allowing the opposition-recommended Chairman Kwon Tae-seon to continue his leadership, which is why the Democratic Party seems to have pulled out the impeachment card against the Commission Chairman again.
To appoint new directors before the foundation's directors' terms expire, related procedures must begin by early to mid-next month at the latest. Since the opposition has already submitted the impeachment motion, the foundation's director appointment agenda is expected to be submitted and processed at the plenary meeting soon to be decided before the vote.
Under the two-person system of Chairman Kim and Vice Chairman Lee Sang-in, major agendas such as the change of the largest shareholder of YTN and terrestrial broadcasting license renewals have already been approved.
The opposition claims the illegality of decisions made under the two-person system, but the Korea Communications Commission's stance, based on legal advice, is that "while not desirable, it is not illegal."
However, if the impeachment vote takes place after the appointment of the foundation's directors, the Commission will revert to a one-person system and fall into another work suspension, causing concern.
The Korea Communications Commission has not been properly operated for a long time due to investigations into allegations of score manipulation in TV Chosun's license renewal review since last year, the dismissal of former Chairman Han Sang-hyuk, and the appointment and resignation of former Chairman Lee Dong-gwan. During this period, the one- and two-person systems continued for about 10 months.
The Commission is structurally heavily influenced by politics, especially becoming more sensitive when dealing with public broadcasting issues.
These series of ups and downs occurred during the ruling party's efforts to restructure public broadcasting. Political conflicts arose repeatedly during phases such as the replacement of KBS management, the privatization of YTN (which is not public broadcasting), and the upcoming replacement of the foundation's directors.
Following the opposition's submission of the impeachment motion on this day, the Korea Communications Commission has yet to release an official statement regarding the schedule for appointing public broadcasting directors or the impeachment and resignation of Chairman Kim.
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