New KBS president apologizes for biased reporting

President Park Min of KBS (photo) held a press conference two days after his appointment to apologize for unfair and biased reporting by KBS.

“I would like to express my deep regrets about KBS losing public trust by undermining fairness, its core value as a public broadcaster. I sincerely apologize for this,” said Park in a press conference at the KBS Art Hall in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul.

“In 2019, a KBS reporter was indicted for misreporting on collusion with prosecutors. In 2020, about the death of the late Jang Ja-yeon, who had been sexually abused by entertainment agencies, KBS had Yoon Ji-oh, who was involved in the death of the late, appear on the news and make false claims. We shed light on land speculation-related allegations of Oh Se-hoon, who was running for mayor of Seoul, right before the April 7 by-elections in 2021. Reports on the recorded conversation of Kim Man-bae, a key figure involved in the Daejang-dong development scandal, which turned out to be fabricated,” he said.

“We will thoroughly investigate the circumstances and the truth behind major unfair broadcastings and publish a white paper. Executives, including directors, will be held accountable for intentional misreports,” Park said. “We will refrain from engaging in indiscriminate competition to break the news faster and implement fact-checking. We will prioritize securing fairness and trust as top management values.”

The KBS president also highlighted measures for negligent management. “KBS received 700 billion won in subscription fees last year, but our deficit exceeds 10 billion won, with an additional 80 billion won expected this year,” he said. “The management, including myself, will undergo a 30% wage cut until management normalizes. We will downsize by accepting voluntary retirement to make changes to human resource management.”

Immediately upon his taking office, Park removed Joo Jin-woo, the host of KBS1 radio's 'Joo Jin-woo Live,’ from the program, who was criticized for biased broadcasting. ‘The Live,’ a current affairs program, was also removed. Many news anchors, including ‘News 9,’ were replaced.


Won-Mo Yu onemore@donga.com