"MBC Bangmunjin, Two Appointed by Vote... 6 Selected out of 31"

Current Issues Inquiry at the National Assembly Science and ICT Committee on the 2nd
Method of Appointing Candidates with Two Votes
"Repeated 7-8 Rounds of Voting"

Chairwoman Lee Jin-sook (right) and Vice Chairman Kim Tae-gyu of the Korea Communications Commission [Image source=Yonhap News]

The Korea Communications Commission recently decided on the appointment of directors for KBS and the Korea Broadcasting Culture Promotion Foundation (the major shareholder of MBC) through a vote conducted in private.

Kim Young-kwan, the Planning and Coordination Officer of the KCC, appeared as a witness on the 2nd at the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee's current issues inquiry and responded to a question from Lee Jun-seok, a member of the Reform New Party.

Officer Kim stated, "Since the Korea Broadcasting Culture Promotion Foundation originally needs to appoint 9 members, two people (Chairman Lee Jin-sook and Vice Chairman Kim Tae-gyu) each voted for 9 candidates, and those who received votes from both were appointed."

He added, "The voting was conducted using a ballot listing all candidates (applicants). If there was a mismatch, multiple rounds of voting were held using the ballot."

They conducted votes on 31 applicants for the foundation's director positions, and those who received votes from both Chairman Lee and Vice Chairman Kim were appointed.

He further explained, "Since 9 members were not selected, the process ended with 6 appointments. I recall it was conducted about 7 to 8 times."

When Lee asked, "So, two people sat down, each selected 9 candidates they thought suitable, and those who overlapped were appointed?" Officer Kim replied, "Yes."

During a questioning session by Roh Jong-myeon, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, Officer Kim reiterated the appointment procedure for the foundation's directors, stating, "Two people each exercised 9 votes. Each had 9 votes. Candidates who received both votes were decided as successors."

Roh asked, "Did you mechanically continue voting until two votes matched? Was there no coordination process when each candidate received only one vote?" and Cho Sung-eun, the KCC Secretariat Chief, answered, "There was none."