By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
Members of the governing and opposition parties traded accusations Friday over whether the government was guilty of influence peddling at public broadcaster KBS.
Lawmakers of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) grilled Lee Byung-soon, the new president of the state-run network, over these allegations.
At a National Assembly committee session, they claimed the broadcaster removed producers and journalist opposed to President Lee Myung-bak from their current programs at the behest of the government.
Legislators of the governing Grand National Party (GNP), on the other hand, stressed that the new KBS chief is putting the left-leaning network back on track.
President Lee appointed Lee Byung-hoon to head KBS late last month. He replaced Jung Yun-joo who was named by former President Roh Moo-hyun.
Jung, who was fired for what the government called poor management, was indicted on charges of breach of trust.
Opposition parties and civic groups claimed his ousting was a prelude to the Lee administration taking control of the media.
Pointing out that KBS reshuffled journalists and producers of the Media Focus program who criticized the President's policies, Rep. Byun Jae-il of the DP said it was revenge against employees who opposed Lee Byung-soon's appointment.
Rep. Lee Yong-kyung of the minor opposition Liberty Forward Party (LFP) shared a similar view, saying 47 out of 95 KBS employees whose positions were changed had joined rallies to protest the government's policies.
Another DP lawmaker Jun Byung-hun called the personnel management ``an abuse of authority.''
He added that KBS has been forced to omit negative news on the President such as candlelit protests against the government's decision to resume U.S. beef imports.
Jun also expressed concern about the Lee administration's influence peddling, citing a nationally televised talk show with the President Sept. 9.
However, GNP legislator Na Kyung-won said the TV station has so far made what she called biased programs.
She reiterated that the former KBS president was ousted because he showed poor performance, not because he was named by the previous administration.
``I expect the new KBS president to make an effort to improve the situation facing the broadcaster and secure the broadcaster's identity as a public network,'' she said.
Another GNP lawmaker Joo Ho-young claimed that the revenge conspiracy was raised by some figures who had benefited from Jung, noting that Jung caused the company a 117 billion-won deficit.