Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee's KBS parliamentary audit adjourned automatically after questioning by only 4 of 18 members

Rival parties clash over the effect of Rep. Lee Jin-sook's recusal and the allegation of "external pressure on KBS reporting" involving Rep. Han Joon-ho… KBS President Park Jang-beom absent, moving to the comprehensive audit on the 22nd

The National Assembly Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee's parliamentary audit of KBS and other public broadcasters on the 16th adjourned automatically after only 4 of its 18 members had finished questioning (according to Yonhap News's comprehensive report on October 16 at 22:26). The institutions audited that day included KBS, EBS, the Foundation for Broadcast Culture, and the Korea Media and Communications Agency. The figure of "4 of 18" is Yonhap News's tally.

According to Yonhap News, the audit was suspended 1 hour and 30 minutes after it began. That was before full-scale questioning had begun. The audit resumed 1 hour later, but as clashes continued again, it was suspended again about 1 hour after resuming, and could not resume afterward. Rep. Lee Hoon-gi of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the committee, wrote on his own X account that the audit "adjourned automatically as of 12 midnight" (October 17 at 00:55 KST). Immediately after the audit was suspended, People Power Party lawmakers protested in front of the chair's seat to Chair Song Gi-heon that the running of the meeting was biased. The issue was the "recusal" of two lawmakers, that is, their exclusion from participating in the audit. https://x.com/hoongihoongi/status/2111123954693976463

First issue: Recusal of Rep. Lee Jin-sook

On the 12th, the committee passed a motion, led by the ruling bloc, to recuse People Power Party Rep. Lee Jin-sook from the parliamentary audit. The reason was that there could be a conflict of interest between Rep. Lee's work when she served as chair of the Korea Communications Commission and the institutions subject to the audit.

Democratic Party Rep. Lee Jeong-heon said on the 16th, "A parliamentary audit is a place to monitor and point out the overall running of state affairs, and must absolutely never become a place to defend one's own past," and said, "If you question decisions you made yourself and evaluate administration you were involved in yourself, it absolutely cannot be a fair parliamentary audit." After the adjournment, Rep. Lee also posted on his own X account an article titled "A player cannot be a referee, a parliamentary audit is not a place for self-defense" (October 17 at 00:11 KST). Rep. Kim Nam-kook also posted on his own X account an article related to the recusal of Rep. Lee Jin-sook (October 16). https://x.com/Lee_jeong_heon/status/2111112850542584054 https://x.com/lawmaker2024/status/2111002158309282206

Rep. Lee said, "The authority to speak in this standing committee is a sacred authority given by the voters of Dalseong-gun, Daegu," and said, "It is not an authority that the 10 Democratic Party lawmakers here and the 2 lawmakers of the ruling bloc can take away." Rep. Lee asked Chair Song Gi-heon of the committee to review the recusal decision again, saying, "If during this parliamentary audit it is judged to be 'a conflict of interest,' if the chair stops me from speaking, I will stop the related remarks."

People Power Party Rep. Choi Hyung-du, the opposition secretary, said, "How many times did a person who worked at YTN for the 2 years of the first half of the 22nd National Assembly personally hold YTN hearings?" and said, "If we are going to argue conflicts of interest, there will be no end to it." Chair Song did not accept the request, saying, "Unless the committee's resolution is changed or invalidated by a provision of the law or by some other authority, respecting that resolution as it is is the right judgment as chair."

Second issue: Motion to recuse Rep. Han Joon-ho

The People Power Party said the same standard should be applied to Rep. Han Joon-ho, the Democratic Party secretary. Earlier, in September, People Power Party Rep. Kim Jang-gyeom raised an allegation that an aide in Rep. Han's office telephoned a KBS reporter and took issue with reporting related to former Minister of Justice candidate Kim Seung-won. This allegation is currently under police investigation, and has not been confirmed to be true.

Rep. Kim said that day, "If the issue of Rep. Lee's recusal comes up, shouldn't Secretary Han Joon-ho be recused at least in relation to KBS?" and said, "That is how it would not be biased." Rep. Seo Cheon-ho of the same party claimed that in the explanatory material released by Rep. Han, a passage from KBS's answer stating that it had 'confirmed that there was a telephone call to a person involved in KBS reporting' was missing.

During his own turn for questioning, Rep. Han directly asked Kim Woo-sung, vice president of KBS, who appeared as a witness, and Choi Kwang-ho, chair of the KBS Journalists Association, who appeared as a reference person, about the allegation of external pressure. Chair Choi said, "As I understand it, it was not a call with the person who wrote the article," and said, "The conclusion I have reached is that even the company side is not judging it to be external pressure."

After the audit was suspended, the People Power Party members of the committee submitted to the chair a motion to recuse Rep. Han. The recusal motion contained content that would prevent Rep. Han from participating in audits directly related to the allegation of external pressure on reporting at that day's KBS parliamentary audit and at the comprehensive audit on the 22nd. After submitting the recusal motion, the People Power Party lawmakers held a press conference and said, "For the party to an allegation of external pressure on reporting to put a journalist who testified to an allegation unfavorable to himself in the parliamentary audit chamber and interrogate him is a clear conflict of interest and abuse of power." Rep. Han's side said, "The answers given today at the National Assembly by the chair of the KBS Journalists Association and the vice president contradict Rep. Kim's claim of external pressure." In a press release on the same day, it maintained its position that "Rep. Han has never, in any way, requested the deletion or correction of the article in question," and that he had also never spoken directly by telephone with the reporter who wrote the article or with the desk. Rep. Han's side also said, "We are actively cooperating with the police investigation, and as soon as the investigation results come out, we plan to take legal action against Rep. Kim."

People Power Party committee members had posted nothing about the October 16 audit on their own X accounts as of 05:30 on the 17th. The party's position came in meeting remarks and at a press conference.