KBS Denounces Supreme Court Ruling

KBS is drawing public censure for airing a nearly seven-minute-long segment that uniformly denounces the Supreme Court’s ruling emphasizing the need to retain the National Security Law, during the September 3 episode of the current affairs show “Live: Current Affairs Tonight” (KBS2, MTTh 12:10 a.m., W 12:00 a.m.).

The hosts of “Live: Current Affairs Tonight” began the segment by throwing doubt on the Supreme Court’s decision: “There is lively debate regarding the fate of the National Security Law. Why, then,” they asked, “has the Supreme Court announced such a ruling at this particular point in time?”

The reporter assigned to the story offered, “Members of the National Assembly who advocate the abrogation of the National Security Law claim that the Supreme Court’s announcement is related to its own past history,” and conveyed the arguments of Assemblyman Woo Won-shik (Uri Party) and Assemblyman Roh Hoe-chan (Democratic Labor Party). “It’s ridiculous,” remarked Assemblyman Woo. “The same folks who adjusted so well to the Cold War era are still apprehensive about making forward strides.”

The reporter also listed three Supreme Court precedents involving the National Security Law, including the 1974 People’s Revolutionary Party incident, and stated, “Korea’s Supreme Court and public prosecution suffered international humiliation for its surprisingly ‘imaginative’ flair,” adding, “There have been countless incidents in which the Supreme Court performed torture or pronounced preposterous sentences on victims of pro-communist manipulation by applying the National Security Law.” He went on to say, “Before the Supreme Court can speak in justification of this law, it must first investigate the truth behind its earlier erroneous rulings and sincerely apologize for them.”

Since the show aired, the KBS internet bulletin board has been flooded with posts that denigrate the partiality of the show.

A poster named Yang Hong-geun wrote, “The show repeatedly showed National Assemblymen speaking in opposition of the Supreme Court’s position, but did not include a single opinion in support of it,” and lamented, “It made me shudder to see this rabble-rousing partiality on the part of a public network program, which launched an indiscriminate attack on the Supreme Court by mixing the hosts’ subjective comments with interviews that fit the show’s agenda.” Another post by Lee Jin-hae pointed out, “The truth or falsity of an issue must be determined by the viewers themselves; why is a show on a public broadcasting service trying to brainwash its audience?”

Kim Hyun, the producer in charge of the program, defended the segment, saying that “the report was not wholly one-sided, since it was meant to offer an alternative view to the Supreme Court’s ruling,” and explained, “We were merely trying to remind the audience that the Supreme Court’s arbitrary interpretation of the National Security Law has produced numerous victims in the past.”

Jin-Yeong Lee ecolee@donga.com