Kim In-gyu, new president of state-run broadcaster KBS, is surrounded by circles of union workers on his way to main gate for his inauguration ceremony Tuesday morning. The unionized workers are threatening a general strike until he resigns, calling him a front man for President Lee Myung-bak's effort to remote-control the state television.
/ Korea Times Photo by Kim Ju-young |
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Kim In-gyu, new president of state-run broadcaster KBS, barely made it to his inauguration ceremony, arriving about four hours later than scheduled.
He couldn't enter through the front gate but managed to sneak in through a backdoor.
The ceremony lasted for a mere five minutes but there were few rounds of congratulatory applause.
From early morning, union members blocked his entry, accusing him of being President Lee Myung-bak's point man in his effort to have the state network at his beck and call.
Phalanxes of workers formed a human barricade to keep Kim from entering the building by the front gate until 9:50 a.m.
The unionists claimed Kim, who worked as a media adviser to President Lee during his election campaign in 2007, would turn their company into a government mouthpiece.
They also threatened to stage a general strike from Dec. 3, should the board of directors not annul Kim's appointment.
Kim, the former chairman of the Korea Digital Media Industry Association, finally made it through a backdoor at around 1:45 p.m.
He is not Lee's first appointee to head a state-run television station to face organized resistance by unionists.
In July 2008, Koo Bon-hong, another media advisor during the presidential campaign, was appointed to head cable news network YTN at a shareholders' meeting.
Workers there wore black ribbons on their lapels in protest, while hosting news programs. In early August, Koo offered to resign. MBC, a TV station which aired an investigative program that triggered candlelit protests last year, is now seen to be under the firm grip of the government with its board including pro-government figures. .
Currently, the heads of KBS, YTN, digital satellite TV service provider SkyLife and English TV network Arirang TV as well as the Korea Broadcasting Advertising Corp. are seen as people who support the Lee administration.
Anti-government critics say that it is indispensable to keep major television channels in "friendly hands" in order to effectively send their messages to the public. Attempting to control the broadcasting stations isn't something new. It was also practiced by previous administrations.
The government needs these companies' cooperation even more, considering the difficulties it faces in big projects such as the restoration of four major rivers and amending the Sejong Administrative City Plan. The two projects are seen as Lee's pet projects that are inviting organized resistance from outside the government.
bjs@koreatimes.co.kr
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