President Park Min’s Press Conference at Korea Broadcasting System (KBS): Addressing Unfair Reporting and Controversies

2023-11-14 09:01:11

Park Min, the new president of Korea Broadcasting System (KBS), looks at reporters raising their hands to ask questions at a public press conference held at the Korea Broadcasting System Art Hall in Seoul on the 14th. Reporter Baek So-ah [e-mail]

Park Min, CEO of Korea Broadcasting System (KBS), who has been involved in a race to speed up large-scale personnel and program reorganization since his first day in office, sparking controversy over infringement of production autonomy, held a press conference to the public this time and said, “I apologize for the unfair and biased reporting by KBS News that has continued over the past few years.” He bowed his head. In response, the Korean Broadcasting Headquarters of the National Union of Press Workers protested in a statement, saying, “From the perspective of the government and the ruling party, they criticized Korean Broadcasting’s reporting as if there was a problem.” President Park Min held a press conference at the Korea Broadcasting System Art Hall on the 14th and said, “I express regret for the loss of public trust by damaging fairness, which is the core value of public broadcasting.” President Park said, ‘Interview with Yoon Ji-oh regarding the case of the late Jang Ja-yeon’ (2019), ‘Channel A transcript of prosecution collusion’ (2020), ‘Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon report on compensation for land in Naegok-dong’ (2021), ‘Newstapa Kim Man-bae and Shin Hak-rim transcript quote report’ (2022) were cited as representative examples of ‘unfair and biased reporting.’ President Park said, “We will not tolerate such cases in the future,” and added, “Reporters or PDs who have caused social controversy through unfair and biased reporting will be immediately excluded from work and disciplined as severely as possible, and the circumstances and truth of the reporting will be thoroughly investigated to prevent recurrence of misinformation.” “We will publish a white paper,” he said. He added, “From now on, Korea Broadcasting Corporation will strictly adhere to the principles set forth in its own production guidelines in all reports and programs.” President Park then expressed his position that he would “humbly accept” the Korea Communications Standards Commission’s decision to impose a fine (30 million won). The National Defense Commission confirmed the imposition of a total fine of 140 million won on four broadcasting companies, including Korea Broadcasting Corporation, that cited Newstapa’s recording of Kim Man-bae and Shin Hak-rim the previous day. The imposition of a fine is the highest level of sanctions imposed by the National Defense Commission and is a factor in deducting 10 points when re-licensing a media company.

Members of the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) headquarters of the media union are protesting in front of the Korea Broadcasting System Art Hall in Seoul, where the new Korean Broadcasting System President Park Min’s press conference was held on the 14th. Reporter Baek So-ah [e-mail]

When President Park claimed that he would accept the decision of the National Defense Commission and that “there were clear problems with the circumstances of the (relevant) report,” the Korea Broadcasting Corporation headquarters of the media union said in a statement, “The Korean Broadcasting Corporation report at the time was not just a simple quotation but also a typical rebuttal. He countered, saying, “It is common sense to question the excessive disciplinary action taken by the National Defense Commission for ignoring the Korean Broadcasting Corporation’s efforts for fairness through a battle-style report.” He then said, “CEO Park is imitating the wrong views of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration toward public broadcasting like a parrot,” and asked, “Is he the president of the ‘people’s broadcasting’ or the president of the ‘government’s broadcasting’?” The union also demanded, “CEO Park Min should request a retrial and inform the committee of its unfairness and correct it,” adding, “Otherwise, we will file a complaint with the police for breach of trust.” “As a result of the legal advice, (if accepted), the management’s breach of trust might be established,” the union explained. Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), YTN, and JTBC, which were fined along with Korea Broadcasting Corporation, have announced legal action, including requesting a retrial. Meanwhile, regarding the cancellation of ‘The Live’ programming and the replacement of major news anchors such as ‘News 9’, which were quickly decided on the first day of his inauguration, President Park said, “As a public broadcaster, I ordered appropriate measures to be taken once morest programs that have lost their identity or have problems.” He said, “I don’t know the specific situation.” Jang Han-sik, the new head of the press conference who attended the press conference, explained, “With the inauguration of the new president, we made the change with the goal of presenting more completely fair news to the public.”

Reporter Park Kang-soo [e-mail]
1699954490
#Media #Society #News #Hankyoreh