By Kim Rahn
The labor union and management at broadcaster MBC, at odds over a long running strike, are in a fresh dispute over an “injury” to the station’s main anchor Kwon Jae-hong.
The company claimed Thursday that Kwon was injured in a scuffle with striking reporters Wednesday night. The union dismissed the claim as groundless, calling on Kwon and resign to take responsibility for the incident.
The row about the incident comes amid an escalating conflict between the two sides. The union has been on strike for more than three months since January, calling for MBC President Kim Jae-chul to resign over what it claims is biased reporting.
In the flagship 9 o’clock evening news Thursday, another anchor Jeong Yeon-guk appeared instead of Kwon. In an opening comment, he said Kwon could not host the news program after a clash with unionized reporters.
Anchorwoman Bae Hyeon-jin said, “When exiting the company building to go home at around 10:20 p.m. last night, Kwon was surrounded by dozens of striking union members.”
She continued, “He sustained bruises to his back and other parts of his body. His car couldn’t move for about 20 minutes, as it was surrounded by the unionists.”
The company said Jeong will host the news program for a while.
But the union refuted the claim.
“Kwon was guarded by 40 police officers at the time and got into his car without any physical contact with union members,” it said.
The union disclosed a video clip showing the whole incident in a media briefing Friday. “We videotaped the scene of Kwon going home when we demanded to talk with him, because we predicted management would make a false claim.”
The union wanted to talk with Kwon, who is also head of MBC’s news reporting bureau, to protest the company’s recruitment of new reporters — a move to produce news programs without the strikers. Union members planned to hold a meeting at an office of the reporting bureau earlier, but Kwon locked the door to the office.
“For the 20 minutes during which we surrounded the car and demanded he explain the recruitment and locking us out of the office, Kwon kept calling or sending text messages on his cell phone, crossing his legs. He never showed any sign of injury, such as rubbing his back.” The union said, Kwon should resign for acting out a “self-injury show.”
It added the comment about Kwon on Thursday’s news was a cooked-up story aimed at disgracing the union. “The management, especially President Kim, used the news program for personal purposes to make false reports. They are not qualified to broadcast in the public interest. They should leave MBC,” a union member said.