Democratic Party on Park Jang-beom's Appointment as President: "Turning KBS into 'Kim Geon-hee Broadcasting Station'"

"President Yoon Forces Appointment of 'Dr. Fauci'"

The Democratic Party of Korea criticized President Yoon Suk-yeol on the 23rd for approving the appointment of Park Jang-beom as KBS president, saying he has "degraded KBS into the 'Kim Geon-hee Broadcasting System'."

Anchor Park Jang-beom appointed as the new president of KBS. Photo by Yonhap News

No Jong-myeon, the party's floor spokesperson, said in a written briefing, "President Yoon has ultimately pushed through the appointment of 'Pouch Park.' This is the price for calling the luxury bag Kim Geon-hee received a 'pouch, a small bag.'"

No criticized Park, saying, "Although he is a former journalist and anchor, he abandoned his identity as a media professional while conducting the presidential interview in February," and added, "While all media outlets called it a 'luxury bag,' he insisted on calling it a 'pouch' and even added the explanation 'small bag,' desperately trying to downplay its significance."

He emphasized, "The National Assembly revealed during the three-day confirmation hearing Park's distorted view of the media, inappropriate stock transactions, tax evasion, his son's false address registration, speeding violations in school zones, and vehicle seizure due to unpaid fines."

He continued, "However, it seems President Yoon had already judged that winning Kim's favor was enough, as he processed the appointment before the scheduled on-site investigation by the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee was even completed," and questioned, "Did Kim Geon-hee pressure him?"

Earlier, the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee held a three-day confirmation hearing for Park from the 18th to the 20th but failed to adopt a confirmation report. President Yoon requested the resubmission of the hearing report to the National Assembly on the 21st, but when there was no response, he appointed Park on the same day without the adoption of the hearing report.