Korea Economy TV plans to appoint Sung Dong-gyu, a professor of media communication at Chung-Ang University, as an outside director, who served in the People’s Power Election Countermeasures Committee and the Presidential Transition Committee during last year’s presidential election. Prof. Seong has been advocating ‘privatization of public broadcasting’ in recent years. Controversy is brewing when he decides to join the board of directors at a time when the government is promoting the privatization of YTN and the Korea Economic Daily has announced its intention to acquire shares.
On the 7th, the Korea Economy TV board of directors unanimously passed the ‘Director Appointment’ to appoint Seong Dong-gyu, a professor of media communication at Chung-Ang University, as a new outside director. Korea Economy TV plans to hold a shareholders’ meeting on the 24th and appoint Professor Sung as a director. According to the Financial Supervisory Service’s Electronic Disclosure System (DART), the average remuneration per person for outside directors of Korea Economy TV last year was 13.46 million won on a half-yearly basis.
During the presidential election last year, Professor Sung served as the Special Committee on Media Policy of the People’s Power Election Countermeasures Committee, and following the election of President Yoon, he served as an expert member of the Science and Technology Education Subcommittee at the 20th Presidential Transition Committee. Prior to that, during the Park Geun-hye administration, he served as a non-executive director of EBS from 2012 to 2015 and the head of the Yeouido Research Institute of the Liberty Korea Party and the United Future Party from 2019 to 2020. Professor Seong is currently serving as an outside director of Intromedic, a medical device company, and TV Chosun, a subsidiary of the Chosun Ilbo. Her term ends on March 22, the second year.
Professor Sung has been advocating the privatization of Korean public broadcasters, including YTN, in recent columns and forums. For example, a column contributed to Maeil Business Newspaper. <미디어 정책 ‘규제’에서 ‘진흥’으로>“Broadcasters relying on public taxes or licenses are excessive,” and “a bold policy is needed to reduce blood taxes and stimulate competition at the same time. One way is to promote the privatization of broadcasting stations other than KBS and EBS,” he argued.
While the Yoon Seok-yeol government has been promoting the privatization of YTN since the second half of last year, the Korea Economic Daily has announced its intention to acquire YTN shares. In this situation, some point out that there is room for a conflict of interest in Professor Sung’s participation as a board member in a company affiliated with the Korea Economic Daily. The largest shareholder of Korea Economic Daily is Korea Economic Daily, which owns 46.04% of Korea Economic Daily.
In a phone call on the 6th, Professor Seong emphasized, “A student who is an executive at Korea Economic Daily TV made a proposal saying that one person in the academic world is serving as an outside director.” did.
Regarding the point of conflict of interest, Professor Seong said, “Since I was on the transition committee, there is a part that can cause misunderstandings, but I am feeling the psychological burden of the media’s excessive attention.” Wouldn’t it be given to the place where it was written with? (Being an outside director) is neither favorable nor unfavorable to Korea Economy TV.”
On the same day, a public relations officer for the Korea Economic Daily said, “Professor Sung’s proposal to appoint an outside director has nothing to do with the sale of YTN’s stake. It is to utilize the insight and knowledge of a person with high reputation in the media field for management.” Regarding the acquisition of shares in YTN, he said, “(The decision) has not been decided” and “We have not yet formed (in-house related TF).”
Meanwhile, last year, the public innovation task force of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, which proposed to sell all of its shares to KEPCO KDN, a public company that is the largest shareholder of YTN, was made up of people related to the Korea Economic Daily who expressed their intention to buy YTN, causing controversy.
