Korea-U.S. Unification Committee issues corrective order for violations of programming laws including Jeju Broadcasting and KBS

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Yoo Hyun-min = The Korea Media and Communications Commission issued a corrective order to broadcasters who did not form a programming committee or enact or revise broadcast programming regulations.

The Korea Media and Communications Commission held its 40th meeting at the Gwacheon Government Complex in Gyeonggi-do on the 7th and decided on corrective orders for 11 broadcasting companies, including Jeju Broadcasting, which did not fulfill its obligation to form a programming committee under the Broadcasting Act, and KBS, which did not complete the enactment and revision of the broadcasting programming regulations.

The Broadcasting Act, revised in August last year, required the establishment of a programming committee in which broadcasters and workers participate and strengthened obligations related to broadcast programming regulations.

After revising related rules in May of this year, the U.S.-based Korea Unification Committee inspected 37 broadcasting companies from June to September to see whether they were fulfilling their legal obligations.

As a result of the inspection, it was confirmed that 36 of the 37 operators had completed forming a programming committee, but Jeju Broadcasting had not yet formed one.

It was found that 26 companies have completed the enactment and revision of the broadcasting programming regulations, and 11 companies, including KBS, KNN, and YTN, have not yet completed the broadcasting regulations, and Jeju Broadcasting has not completed the enactment and revision of the programming regulations.

The Broadcasting Act requires terrestrial television broadcasters and broadcasters specializing in comprehensive programming and reporting to establish programming committees, and stipulates that broadcast programming regulations be enacted, revised, and announced after listening to the opinions of workers.

At the meeting on this day, there was also an opinion that an additional deadline should be given to businesses that are in the process of labor-management consultation to enact or revise programming regulations rather than immediately issuing a corrective order.

On the other hand, some suggested that a corrective order is necessary as a considerable period of time has passed since the enforcement of the law and violations continue despite the fact that the U.S.-based Unification Committee has continuously urged its implementation.

Kim Jong-cheol, chairman of the Korea-U.S. Unification Committee, supported the corrective order, saying, “It is not appropriate to impose additional administrative guidance when violations have already occurred.” As a result of the vote, the corrective order was passed with the majority of members present.

Chairman Kim said, “The composition of the programming committee and the enactment and revision of the broadcast programming regulations are core legal obligations given to broadcasters to substantially guarantee the autonomy and independence of broadcast programming,” and requested their prompt implementation.

The deadline for implementing the corrective order is November 7th. The Korea-U.S. Unification Committee plans to re-examine each business operator's compliance and take follow-up measures against businesses that do not comply.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Unification Committee decided to issue a corrective order for D'Live, which violated the conditions of relicensing, to submit and approve a debt ratio reduction plan.

General programming channel MBN plans to decide whether to re-approval in November, and JTBC, which is in the process of corporate rehabilitation, has decided to submit a revised business plan within 6 months, review for re-approval and decide whether to re-approval within 2 months.