FBC Chairman Under Fire
‘Big House’ Remark Over MBC Personnel Reshuffle Causes Stir
By Cho Jae-hyon
Staff Reporter
Kim Woo-ryong, board chairman of the Foundation for Broadcasting Culture (FBC), caused a stir with his remarks indicating that Cheong Wa Dae pressured MBC TV President Kim Jae-cheol to sweep away "leftist officials" of the nation's second largest broadcasting company.
In an interview in the April edition of Shindong A, a monthly magazine unit of DongA Ilbo, FBC Chairman Kim said that the MBC president removed the left-wing officials during a March 8 reshuffling of executive posts at the behest of the presidential house.
"The recent personnel reshuffle was not carried out by MBC President Kim Jae-chul alone. It was done after 'the big house' called him in and kicked him in the shin. It was made after he was beaten," he said in the interview published Thursday.
"The big house" is interpreted as the presidential house by analysts and opposition parties.
The FBC Chairman also said that about "80 percent of leftists" at MBC had been cleared with the latest reshuffling.
He also said he had planned to sack former MBC President Ohm Ki-young if he would not have stepped down voluntarily.
"I planned to fire president Ohm if he didn't quit by the end of February. But he stepped down on his own. It's as if my goal has been achieved 120 percent," he said.
The board of the FBC, which holds a 70 percent controlling stake in MBC, has the right to appoint and fire the MBC president. The FBC, a non-profit organization which was established in 1988, is controlled by the Korea Communications Commission.
The FBC chairman's remarks are causing a huge stir. The organization issued a statement that ShindongA's report contains "some exaggerated and distorted parts."
However, ShindongA said the content of the interview was made public without modification.
The labor union of MBC is slamming the FBC and some FBC board members are calling for the chairman to step down. The FBC board is comprised of nine members, with three fielded by the opposition party.
"It's the most shameful day for the FBC since its inception," MBC trade union said in a statement. "It was disclosed that the scenario of taking control of MBC was directed by Cheong Wa Dae. The FBC and Kim Woo-ryong are nothing more than a puppet of the Lee administration."
The union also called for MBC President Kim to step down "for bringing unbearable shame to all MBC members."
It also called for Cheong Wa Dae to disclose the officials who forced MBC President Kim to eliminate left-wing executives.
Regarding ShindongA's report, FBC Chairman Kim told online news provider New Daily, Thursday, that he had talked with their reporter twice over tea but did not know that it was an interview.
"The reporter did not say it was for an interview. I met the reporter two times to chat and I thought it was off the record. The report is distorted," he said.
Separately, MBC President Kim plans to file a libel suit against the ShindongA reporter.
"I never met any officials from 'the big house' regarding the recent reshuffling of executives of MBC units," he said in a statement.
Cheong Wa Dae also denied that it had influenced personnel management of MBC.
Presidential spokesman Park Sun-kyu said in a briefing: "Cheong Wa Dae did not intervene in the MBC management reshuffle."