KBS Development Council Launched

State-run TV station Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) has been the subject of controversy raised by the scandal caused by using a North Korean war song on its current affairs program. The KBS Development Council (chairperson: Yoon Meyong-sik, who is a producer on the review team), composed of KBS employees who are against reform, held an inaugural meeting on the afternoon of September 13.

The KBS Development Council announced yesterday that it adopted its prospectus and selected six joint representatives including Chairman Yoon, Park Seong-myeong (producer of the review team), and Ahn Joon-sang (of the radio production technology team) while 14 founders from every profession such as producers, management, technology attended. Most of the 85 members of the council were experienced executives before KBS reorganized its employees into team-based units.

On its prospectus, it says, “KBS has seriously fallen into servant role to the government more now than under any other previous administrations, ignoring its duty and responsibility to embrace the common sentiment of the nation as well as their diverse perspectives and values,” and it points out, “This phenomenon is related to the president and CEO of KBS, Jeong Yeon-joo’s managerial practice of feigning a reform.”

The Development Council criticized, “As soon as employees were reshuffled into team-based units, which was the major reform implemented by President Jeong, problems have erupted in gate keeping (screening program errors) and personnel management, especially when assigning heads of teams, in which union members and executive members have been favored. This is a systematic tool that codes each employee on a hierarchical ladder.”

“New programs, which were launched to strike a chord with Jeong’s reform leadership, made audiences distrust KBS, and this led to bad management,” said the council. Also, they criticized executives on the managerial level and of the KBS union, saying, “This farce has been caused by executive amateurism in collaboration with the uncritical patronage of the union.”

The council announced, “KBS should prioritize restoring its impartial broadcasting voice and contribute to the synthesis of the nation and economic recovery,” and continued, “We are going to stand at the front of the effort to transform KBS back into a genuine broadcasting service of the nation.”

Jin-Yeong Lee ecolee@donga.com