TBS "We Suffer from the Unfortunate Legacy Created by Kim Eo-jun"

Seoul City Urged to Provide 2 Billion Won in Funding

After Seoul City stopped budget support, TBS, facing difficulties, targeted broadcaster Kim Eo-jun, saying, "We are struggling with the unfortunate legacy he created."

On the morning of the 8th, Lee Seong-gu, acting CEO of TBS, attended a press conference held at the Seonggonghoe Building in Jung-gu, Seoul, and pointed out, "Those who caused political bias issues have gone outside, become members of the National Assembly, and are earning even more revenue."

Lee Sung-gu, Acting CEO of TBS, is speaking at the TBS Media Foundation press briefing held at the Seonggonghoe Building in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 8th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

He continued, "Those people should cooperate by even using their private funds to help us," and emphasized, "We are currently pursuing a trademark lawsuit against Mr. Kim, who is using the 'News Factory' brand on his personal YouTube channel, and we will broadly investigate any additional illegal activities to hold him accountable."

Earlier in June, Seoul City abolished the ordinance related to TBS financial support. As a result, TBS is currently not receiving budget support from Seoul City. TBS had relied on Seoul City contributions for more than 70% of its annual budget, which amounts to about 40 billion KRW.

After the support was cut off, TBS has been preparing various self-help measures. It diversified revenue by signing memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with public institutions and minimized personnel operations to reduce expenses. The number of TBS employees was 360 last year but was reduced to 250 this year.

However, despite these efforts, attracting additional investment has been difficult, and TBS is reportedly facing the risk of closure. Lee said, "Those who caused political bias controversies in the past have now left the company, but the remaining employees have to endure the burden, which is absurd," and raised his voice, saying, "Please stop causing pain to TBS employees unrelated to (the bias) and urgently push for support."

Lee also stated, "We plan to consult with the Korea Communications Commission to allow TBS to run commercial advertisements," and urged, "Until then, Seoul City and the City Council should provide 2 billion KRW in support to buy time."