Korea Communications Commission cuts approval validity by 3 months for YTN, Yonhap News TV over CEO panel failures

News-specialty broadcasters that failed to form and operate a CEO recommendation committee as required under the Broadcasting Act have had their approval validity periods cut by three months.

The Korea Communications Commission held its 31st plenary session of 2026 on Friday and imposed a three-month reduction in approval validity on news-specialty channels YTN and Yonhap News TV for violating the Broadcasting Act, which requires broadcasters to appoint their chief executives based on recommendations from a CEO recommendation committee.

The commission also ordered both channels to remedy their violations of Article 20, Paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Broadcasting Act by Oct. 10.

The commission had earlier directed both companies to correct their violations by July 31, following an initial order issued May 15. Neither complied within the deadline, and the commission said the sanctions were prompted by roughly one year of continuous non-compliance since the revised Broadcasting Act took effect last August.

At YTN, prolonged labor-management disagreements have prevented the two sides from agreeing on the formation of a CEO recommendation committee. At Yonhap News TV, a proposed amendment to the articles of incorporation related to the committee — which had cleared both a labor-management agreement and a board vote — was rejected at a shareholders' meeting due to opposition from the largest shareholder and others.

Before voting on the sanctions Friday, the commission held a public hearing with representatives of YTN and its largest shareholder Yujin ENT, as well as Yonhap News TV and its largest shareholder Yonhap. The commission urged all parties to recognize their primary responsibility for the violations and to take an active and forward-looking approach to achieving compliance within the new deadline.

Commission Chairman Kim Jong-cheol said the Broadcasting Act had been revised and enacted to improve the governance structure of news-specialty channels and safeguard the public interest and impartiality of broadcasting, yet the legislation had in effect been rendered hollow in practice. "We will uphold the intent of the law through strict enforcement against broadcasters that fail to fulfill their legal obligations," he said.