President Lee questions why biased broadcasters face no sanctions

President Lee Jae Myung on Monday questioned what should be done when some broadcasters habitually distort and fabricate information to the point where they are indistinguishable from a political party's mouthpiece.

Lee made the remarks while presiding over the 24th Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, during a first-anniversary performance briefing by Kim Jong-cheol, chairman of the Broadcasting, Media and Communications Commission. "Terrestrial broadcasters and general programming channels are protected by limiting entry so other operators cannot move in — it is essentially a licensed monopoly," Lee said.

He then pressed the point again. "Given that protection, responsibility should follow. If a broadcaster loses its neutrality and fairness — acting like a party organ — are there sanctions for that?" he asked.

Kim replied that broadcasters could exercise freedom of broadcasting under strict conditions and that violations would be subject to sanctions, including disadvantages during the licensing and re-approval process. Lee cut him off. "I have never heard of any sanctions being imposed over all this time," he said.

Lee went on to say that all judgments should be made from the public's perspective. "From the public's point of view, there have been cases where people said, 'This has really gone too far' — cases that clearly lacked neutrality, fairness and objectivity — and I have never heard of any sanctions being taken," he said.

When Kim acknowledged that the commission had fallen short in establishing strict order in broadcasting, Lee added, "Broadcasting and communications administration must be conducted in a cool-headed, fair, transparent and objective manner. What I am asking is why things that make the public frown and say, 'How does this even make sense?' have been left unaddressed for so long."

Kim said the commission would work to ensure fair order in the industry.