Opposition party to boycott Assembly audit

Lawmakers of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party hold placards reading “Controlling media should be stopped” at the National Assembly, Thursday. They protested the Korea Communications Commission’s appointment of two pro-government figures to the nine-member board of the Foundation of Broadcast Culture, the biggest shareholder in the public broadcaster MBC. They described the appointment as the Moon Jae-in government’s move to control media. / Yonhap

By Kim Hyo-jin

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) decided Thursday to boycott the ongoing National Assembly audit of government offices from Friday, triggering a political standoff with the government and the ruling party.

The decision came after the broadcasting watchdog, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), filled two vacant seats of the nine-member board of the Foundation for Broadcast Culture (FBC) with pro-government figures.

The LKP protested the decision, claiming the Moon Jae-in government is seeking to control the media by putting TV broadcasting under its influence. The board of the FBC, the largest shareholder of the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) ― one of Korea’s largest public TV companies ― can appoint its new president.

“The KCC has illegally pushed for the filling of the two seats in a bid to pull strings in the media,” Rep. Kim Jung-jae, the party’s spokeswoman, told reporters after an emergency general meeting.

The LKP said it will introduce a motion calling for the dismissal of KCC Chairman Lee Hyo-seong.

“We will seek to dismiss the KCC chief and file an injunction request to the court to suspend the effect of the appointment of the new board members,” Kim said.

This appointment filled the body with a majority of pro-government members.

Speculation was high that it would facilitate the process of dismissing FBC head Ko Young-joo, who was appointed by the previous Park Geun-hye government, and MBC President Kim Jang-gyeom, also appointed during Park’s term.

Kim is being investigated by the prosecution for his alleged unfair labor practices. The MBC union has been on strike for over 50 days since Sept. 4, calling for Kim and the company’s management to step down.

The LKP insisted that it had the right to recommend new figures following the recent departure of the two members who were appointed on the party’s recommendation when it was the ruling party.

Questions have lingered over who can recommend board members to fill vacancies if the predecessor quits before his or her term ends, without any specific regulations.

Six of the nine-member FBC board are appointed at the recommendation of the ruling bloc while the remaining three are appointed at the recommendation of the opposition, the structure of which in the past makes it hard not to avoid the wishes of the government.

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) denounced the LKP’s decision.

Party floor leader Woo Won-shik said that the right to appoint board members still belongs to the KCC and based on custom, the current ruling party has the right to recommend people for the two vacant seats, left by figures recommended by the previous ruling party.

“We just let the KCC conduct its role, mindful of opinions that the intervention by a political party is unnecessary,” he said.