Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
KBS pulls documentary on Sewol tragedy for 'potential impact' on general elections
Children look at yellow ribbons tied to a fence by those paying respects to the victims of the 2014 Sewol ferry tragedy at a port in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, where the salvaged ferry stands nine years after the disaster, on April 16, 2023. Newsis
By Lee Hae-rin
Public broadcaster criticized for overtly pro-government stance under new chief
Korea’s public broadcaster KBS decided not to broadcast a documentary on the 2014 sinking of the Sewol ferry initially scheduled to be broadcast in April, citing that it “could affect the general elections.”
An episode of the channel’s weekly documentary series "DOCU INSIGHT" was slated to air on April 18, reexamining the tragedy and survivors’ struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to mark the 10th anniversary of the disaster, according to a letter that the show producers sent to other members of the Korean Producers and Directors Association (KPDA) about the broadcast, Thursday.
However, a decision was made from higher up in the production headquarters to put it on hold. As to the reason for the delay, the decision makers cited the documentary's potential effects on the April 10 general elections, even though the episode was initially scheduled to air more than a week after the elections.
In response to multiple protests from producers regarding the show’s timeliness, a senior KBS official said “a month or two before and after the elections are within the sphere of influence” of a major political event.
Additionally, the producers were told to remake the documentary into part of a series by adding PTSD cases of other tragedies that have struck the nation, such as the 2010 sinking of the ROKS Cheonan, the deadly 2003 Daegu subway fire and the 1995 collapse of Sampoong Department Store, each of which resulted in large numbers of casualties.
The Sewol ferry disaster that cost 304 lives, among which 250 were high school students, triggered a huge public outcry and brought the conservative Park Geun-hye administration’s incompetence and corruption into full view, resulting in the shift of power to the liberal Moon Jae-in government.
Some 80 percent of the casting and 40 percent of the shooting have been already completed to meet the production deadline and broadcast schedule.
Nevertheless, under the current programming circumstances, the documentary will be rescheduled to air around August or September.
"The program to be restructured and aired in a different month other than April will not be a program marking the 10th anniversary of the Sewol disaster but a totally new one," the letter read. "We have to explain this to the victims and other people who have spent two months with us (to help make the documentary). We wonder how they will regard this decision by KBS."
KBS has been criticized for suppressing freedom of speech and taking a pro-government stance since the appointment of its new president and CEO last November.
Park Min, a former editorial writer at the Munhwa Ilbo daily who had no previous broadcasting experience, was appointed to the position with a unilateral recommendation from conservative members of the broadcaster’s board and approval from President Yoon Suk Yeol, provoking allegations of cronyism.
On his first day at work, Park sacked main anchor Lee So-jung on the channel’s most popular evening news program and removed left-wing journalist Joo Jin-woo from his radio talk show that had been running for three years.
On Feb. 8, Park replaced the broadcaster’s auditor-in-chief to conduct a “special inspection” into the channel’s “biased reporting” from the past, which he vowed to do since taking the position.
The broadcaster was also criticized for allegedly downplaying the recent scandal surrounding first lady Kim Keon Hee during an exclusive prerecorded New Year interview with Yoon. The interviewer called the Dior handbag which Kim received from a pastor a "small pouch made by a foreign company" while other media outlets usually call it a "luxury bag."
The broadcast’s labor union published a bulletin, Feb. 7 that employees at the current affairs and culture production divisions had started to sense “infringement on freedom of production” since the head of the production headquarters was replaced after Park’s appointment.