Ex-IBK chief Cho installed as YTN head

Cho Jun-hee

By Baek Byung-yeul

Cho Jun-hee, former CEO of the Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK), 61, has been sworn in as CEO of local cable news channel YTN.

Cho, who was appointed at a general meeting of YTN on March 2, was confirmed as new head of the news channel at the stockholders meeting on March 20, succeeding Bae Suk-kyu.

The appointment comes after the company experienced financial problems last year. YTN recorded a 26 billion won ($23.6 million) loss in 2014.

In his inaugural speech on Monday, Cho said he would change the 24-hour news channel into a more financially solid firm.

“A news channel in financial difficulty cannot guarantee the public’s right to know,” he said.

“As new cable news channels have been added to television networks in recent years, the viewer’s ratings of our company have fallen and advertisement revenues, which account for the biggest portion of our sales profit, have slumped as well.

“It is time to consider the entire business structure of the company.”

Although Cho has taken the post to help lift the financially troubled company, that remains to be seen given he has no experience in the media industry.

The National Union of Mediaworkers (NUM) has attacked YTN over Cho’s appointment.

“It is ridiculous that a person who doesn’t have any journalistic experience can be appointed as a new CEO of the news channel,” the NUM said on March 2.

“We are concerned how Cho, who only served as a banker for more than three decades, can ensure the fairness of the media.

“It is completely against the Korea Communications Commission’s (KCC) advice on YTN, which recommended that a new CEO for YTN be chosen from the media community.”

There have been fierce conflicts between the management board of YTN and its labor union.

In 2008, YTN unionists protested over the management’s decision to name Koo Bon-hong, a former media adviser to the then-Lee Myung-bak administration, as its new chief. The unionists accused the government of trying to strengthen its grip on the cable news channel.

Six people in top positions in the union were fired as a result, and only three were able to resume their jobs after a Supreme Court decision.

Acknowledging concerns over the issues, Cho said he would do his utmost to stabilize labor-management relations.

Cho, born in Sangju, North Gyeongsang Province in 1954, joined IBK in 1980 after graduating from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. He served as IBK CEO from 2010 to 2014.

YTN, the Korean equivalent of CNN, was founded in 1993 and began broadcasting in 1995.