Court Rejects Suspension Request for 'KBS New Board Appointment' (Comprehensive)

Request Filed by Opposition-Leaning KBS Directors Against Korea Communications Commission Dismissed

The court dismissed the request for a suspension of the enforcement of the appointment of new board members filed by current KBS directors classified as opposition-leaning.

The Seoul Administrative Court's 12th Administrative Division (Presiding Judge Kang Jae-won) on the 13th dismissed the suspension request filed by KBS directors Kim Chan-tae, Ryu Il-hyung, Lee Sang-yo, Jung Jae-kwon, and Cho Sook-hyun against the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), which sought to halt the KCC's recommendation of new KBS directors and President Yoon Seok-yeol's approval of their appointment.

Accordingly, the seven new KBS directors?Kwon Soon-beom, Ryu Hyun-soon, former head of the Korea Policy Broadcasting Institute, Seo Ki-seok, chairman, Lee Geon, vice president of Women’s Newspaper, lawyer Lee In-cheol, Heo Yeop, vice chairman of the Video Rating Board, and Hwang Sung-wook, former standing member of the Korea Communications Standards Commission?will not face any restrictions in performing their duties.

Following the dismissal, the KCC stated that it "respects the court's judgment." Previously, on July 31 of last year, the KCC approved the recommendation of new KBS board members, and President Yoon ratified it the following day.

In response, current KBS directors filed a lawsuit to invalidate the appointment of the new board members, arguing that "only two members of the KCC, Chairperson Lee Jin-sook and Vice Chairperson Kim Tae-gyu, who were appointed by the president, recommended the new directors, which lacks legal legitimacy and is therefore invalid," and requested a suspension of enforcement.

Earlier, the same court division accepted a suspension request filed by Kwon Tae-seon, chairman of the Korea Broadcasting Culture Promotion Foundation (MBC’s major shareholder), which had put a halt to the appointment of the next board members of the foundation in August of last year.

In response, the KCC filed a motion to disqualify the court division, expressing concerns about unfair trials in the KBS-related case because the court had suspended the appointment of the foundation’s directors. However, this motion was rejected in both the first and second trials.