Broadcasting Commission and Commerce Ministry Contradict Secretary Yang’s Explanation

In response to the explanation that Yang Jeong-chul, presidential secretary for Public Information and Planning, caused trouble by asking the Samsung Group to pay part of the expenses of the “Digital Broadcasting Proclamation Ceremony,” the Korean Broadcasting Commission and the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy, co-hosts of this event, reported yesterday, “That is not true.” (See related article on A3.)

Secretary Yang’s explanation in regard to his request to share the event expenses in the “Digital Broadcasting Proclamation Ceremony,” held on September 3 at the aT center (Yangjae-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul), was that “as the event day approaches, he heard through various channels household appliance manufacturers complaining that they cannot afford their shares of the expenses. So he asked (the Samsung Group to pay for it) over the phone sometime around late August.”

However, the Broadcasting Commission reported yesterday, “It was decided that the government and the broadcasting companies, excluding home appliance manufacturers, share all the event expenses. We even decided how much each organization would pay in detail. It is hard to understand why Secretary Yang called to ask to share expenses in late August when all the issues regarding the event expenses were already decided and solved.”

The commission and the ministry said, “There had been no problem regarding the expenses while preparing the event. Also, we had not reported any problems regarding the expenses to Cheong Wa Dae.”

Now there rises a suspicion that Secretary Yang may have over-intervened with some other intention under the excuse of the president’s attending of the event.

According to the commission, we earmarked a total of 740 million won for the “Digital Broadcasting Proclamation Ceremony.” 450 million won was paid from the Broadcasting Development Fund of the commission, 200 million won by four broadcasting companies (KBS, MBC, SBS, and EBS), and the rest shared by three government ministries (the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy, and the Ministry of Information and Telecommunication), that each contributed 30 million won. The three home appliance manufacturers (Samsung, LG, and Irei) participated in the event by setting up their booths to display digital TVs.

Jin-Yeong Lee Chi-Young Shin ecolee@donga.com higgledy@donga.com