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| Son Seok-hee |
Korea's most influential television journalist finds himself under the threat of punishment after the state broadcasting censor accused him of being unfairly critical of Park Geun-hye's government. This has reporters' organizations sounding the alarm over the health of editorial independence.
The Korea Communications Standards Commission will hold an all-member meeting on Dec. 5 to determine whether to discipline Soh Seok-hee, chief news editor and anchor at cable channel JTBC.
Kwon Hyeok-bu, one of the members of the commission picked by Park's party, took offense at how Son discussed the government's action in seeking a ban on the United Progressive Party on the network's main news show on Nov. 5.
Son had invited UPP lawmaker Kim Jae-yeon, Yonsei University law professor Kim Jong-chul and Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, a former human rights lawyer, to discuss whether the government was pushing against the limits of acceptability in attempting to eliminate the small leftist party.
President Park earlier this month asked the Constitutional Court to disband the UPP, which has been accused of supporting North Korea at the cost of the South's national security.
Several key UPP members, including lawmaker Lee Seok-ki, were arrested in September on charges of plotting an armed rebellion against the South Korean government in the event of a war on the divided Korean Peninsula.
Kwon claimed that Son's selection of the panelists, who were all critical of the government's move, violated Provision No. 9 of the country's Broadcasting Standards Regulation, which is about fairness in reporting.
''A comprehensive news program should convey a fair viewpoint both in the length and quality of the arguments,'' Kwon said during a meeting of the commission Thursday, when the all-member panel on Dec. 5 to discuss the disciplinary measures was ordered.
''JTBC used 18 minutes and 12 seconds of its 45-minute news program to convey a negative argument on the government's decision to seek a ban on the UPP. The interview of lawmaker Kim lasted for eight minutes. This violates the responsibility for fair reporting.''
Kim Sang-woo, JTBC's deputy news editor, was at the meeting to defend the network's reporting.
''The government's decision to ask the Constitutional Court to disband the UPP has great social ramifications and we believed it was definitely an issue worthy of lengthy coverage,'' Kim said.
''Kim Jae-yeon was an obvious choice as a panelist because we needed to hear that side of the story. Kim Jong-chul was brought in to provide the expert opinion of a law professor.
''We actually asked Mayor Park Won-soon mostly about the issues of governing the Seoul Metropolitan Government. The anchor asked his opinion about the UPP issue near the end of the conversation and Park stressed respect for the law and Constitution. That was not an answer in support of the UPP, and probably closer to the opposite.''
The commission's three members named by the governing Saenuri Party voted in favor of making the JTBC report a subject of disciplinary discussion, while the two members picked by opposition parties left the meeting in protest.
Son, a longtime television and radio journalists for MBC, joined JTBC to helm its newsroom early this year. JTBC is owned by conservative newspaper JoongAng Daily, which has been supportive of the Park government. The cable network, on the other hand, has been differentiating itself with biting criticism of conservative politics.
