Court Maintains Suspension of Execution for Appointment of MBC Visangjin Directors... Appeal Dismissed

The court has once again put a brake on the appointment of new board members of the Korea Broadcasting Culture Promotion Foundation (MBC’s major shareholder).

Lee Jin-sook, Chairperson of the Korea Communications Commission, is taking the oath as a witness at the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee hearing on the Korea Communications Commission held on the 7th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

On the 1st, the Seoul High Court Administrative Division 8-2 (Presiding Judges Jeong Chong-ryeong, Jo Jin-gu, Shin Yong-ho) dismissed the Korea Communications Commission’s appeal against the suspension of execution decision on the appointment of the next board members of the Foundation. Accordingly, the new board members cannot begin their terms until the outcome of the main lawsuit is determined.

Earlier, in July, about 10 hours after Lee Jin-sook, Chairperson of the Korea Communications Commission, and Commissioner Kim Tae-gyu were appointed, the Commission appointed six new board members of the Foundation: Professor Kim Dong-ryul of Sogang University, Son Jeong-mi, member of the TV Chosun Viewer Committee, Yoon Gil-yong, special broadcasting advisory member of the Korea Communications Standards Commission, Lee Woo-yong, mediator of the Press Arbitration Commission, lawyer Lim Mu-young, and lawyer Heo Ik-beom.

In response, Chairman Kwon and other opposition-leaning board members filed a cancellation lawsuit and requested a suspension of execution, arguing that the appointment by the two-person Korea Communications Commission was illegal.

The trial court accepted the suspension request, stating, “Considering that the main lawsuit is expected to take a considerable amount of time for trial, even if the applicants win the main lawsuit, it will be difficult to recover the damages suffered due to being unable to perform their duties as board members of the Foundation.” The Korea Communications Commission appealed the decision.