Sejong City Cancels Registration of Internet Newspapers for Legal Violations

Review Committee Convenes on July 1
to Deliberate Violations of Newspaper Act

On July 1, Sejong City announced that it had convened a Registration Cancellation Review Committee to review potential violations of laws and regulations by media outlets and to deliberate on possible administrative actions, in accordance with the Act on the Promotion of Newspapers and Other Publications.

Previously, the city received the results of an inspection from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism regarding media outlets that had failed to comply with the Newspaper Act. After conducting its own inspection over a two-month period, the city completed guidance and administrative measures for 45 internet newspapers, including voluntary closures and changes. Among these, the city identified five internet newspapers that were deemed to have violated Article 23 of the relevant law, such as by failing to publish articles for more than one year without justifiable reason. The city proceeded with the relevant procedures, including advance notification of administrative registration cancellation and holding hearings for these five outlets.

On this day, based on the contents of the hearings, the committee deliberated on whether violations of the Newspaper Act had occurred and the reasons for such violations, and decided to cancel the administrative registration of the five internet newspapers. According to Article 13 of the relevant law, publishers and others associated with the canceled internet newspapers are prohibited from publishing or registering a new media outlet under the same name for two years from the date of cancellation, and they are also barred from serving as publishers, editors, or persons responsible for article arrangement in other media outlets.

According to Article 24 of the relevant law, mayors and provincial governors are required to establish a Registration Cancellation Review Committee to ensure fair and objective deliberation of registration cancellations. The Sejong City committee consists of seven members, including city officials, lawyers, university professors, and public institution media representatives.