Suspension of Execution Granted for Visitjin Director Appointment
Broadcasting Commission: "Appointed According to Law and Principles... Will Provide Explanation"
Even with Lee Jin-suk's Return, Dual Leadership System... Steps Toward Operational Paralysis
The court has put a brake on the appointment of the new board members of the Korea Broadcasting Culture Promotion Foundation (MBC Foundation), which was decided by the 'two-person system' Korea Communications Commission (KCC). As a result, even if KCC Chairperson Lee Jin-sook, who is currently undergoing impeachment proceedings, returns early, KCC's work is expected to remain sluggish. The KCC announced plans to file an immediate appeal against the court's ruling, but the decision-making on broadcasting and telecommunications policies is likely to be delayed.
The Seoul Administrative Court's Administrative Division 12 (Presiding Judge Kang Jae-won) on the 26th accepted the request for suspension of execution of the appointment of MBC Foundation board members filed by Kwon Tae-sun, chairman of the MBC Foundation, and directors Kim Ki-jung and Park Seon-ah against the KCC. The court judged that if the new board members were appointed, the current board, including Chairman Kwon, would be unable to perform their duties, causing irreparable harm, and saw an urgent need to suspend the effect to prevent this. Due to the court's ruling, the inauguration of the new board members is impossible until the main lawsuit's outcome is decided.
Earlier, KCC Chairperson Lee Jin-sook and Acting Vice Chair Kim Tae-gyu held a full meeting just 10 hours after their first day at work and appointed six new MBC Foundation directors: Kim Dong-ryul, Son Jeong-mi, Yoon Gil-yong, Lee Woo-yong, Lim Moo-young, and Heo Ik-beom. In response, Chairman Kwon and two others claimed that the appointment of the new board by the two-person system KCC was illegal.
The KCC stated, "We will actively respond to the lawsuit and demonstrate that the government resolved the appointment of public broadcasting directors according to law and principles," expressing their intention to file an immediate appeal. At the same day's full meeting of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee, Acting Chair Kim Tae-gyu, when asked if he agreed with the court's decision, replied, "There are parts I do not agree with," adding, "I will refrain from specific comments as it may affect future arguments."
Since the court questioned the KCC's two-person system for deliberation and resolution, decision-making at the KCC has become difficult for the time being. Currently, the KCC faces major issues in the broadcasting and telecommunications industry, including reforming the legal paradigm for broadcasting, telecommunications, and media, extending the validity period for broadcasting company re-licenses and approvals, abolishing the terminal distribution law, and establishing a response system for false and manipulated information. Considering that the main lawsuit will take a considerable time, even if Chair Lee, who is under constitutional court review, returns early, the KCC's work under the two-person system may still be paralyzed.
Acting Chair Kim announced in a KCC work report that they would promptly proceed with tasks that do not require deliberation and resolution under the current one-person system KCC. Representative tasks include checking the actual conditions of the broadcasting and telecommunications market and conducting fact-finding investigations.
The National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee is pushing for an amendment to the KCC Establishment Act to strengthen the meeting quorum from the current two to four members. The normalization of KCC operations seems even more distant. Acting Chair Kim expressed his opinion, saying, "Currently, it is difficult even to meet the two-person quorum, so the commission is not being formed, and if it is raised to four, there is a risk of easy functional paralysis."
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