Nation mixed on bill to ban convicted celebs

Jung Joon-young was sentenced to six years in prison by the Seoul Central District Court, Friday after being found guilty of multiple counts of rape and filming and sharing the crimes with other entertainers through a mobile chat service. / Korea Times file

By Kim Hyun-bin

A possible revision of the Broadcasting Act that aims to ban celebrities with criminal records from TV screens or other entertainment activities is emerging as a hotly-debated issue here, drawing mixed responses.

On July 25, Rep. Oh Young-hun of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) along with nine other lawmakers submitted a revision bill to the act stipulating that broadcast regulations should ban celebrities from appearing on TV programs, specifically those sentenced to prison terms for sexual crimes, driving under the influence (DUI), gambling or illegal drug use.

“An increasing number of celebrities are getting involved in illegal acts such as drug use, sex crimes and illegal gambling so there needs to be a ban on these individuals as they have an influence on viewers. There should be restrictions when casting them,” the revision states.

The move comes as the politicians are worried that viewers might have the misconception that certain crimes are not that severe after seeing convicted celebrities return to the screen.

Even if the revision passes it will not include those with previous convictions before the implementation of the ban such as comedians Lee Soo-geun and Kim Yong-man, and singers Shin Jung-hwan and SES' Shoo who were convicted of illegal gambling; and actor Ju Ji-hoon and singers Park Yu-chun and Big Bang's T.O.P for illrgal drug use.

People are divided on the issue with those against the bill claiming it is unconstitutional to ban celebrities from appearing on TV when one of their main sources of income is from broadcast activities.

“We should get rid of lawmakers, prosecutors, police and government officials that have committed the crime first,” an online commenter wrote.

On the other hand, people in favor of the ban said it made no sense for convicted felons to make money via broadcast media that young people have easy access to.

“Those drug and sex crimes and DUIs are real crimes. DUIs could be seen as attempted murder,” a commenter in favor of the bill wrote.

Currently, broadcasting stations have their own regulations and lists of banned celebrities who ben the subject of strong public criticism. Such celebrities include Jung Joon-young, who received a six-year prison term Friday, on multiple counts of rape and sharing illicit hidden camera videos of the crimes with celebrity acquaintances; and Ko Young-wook, who raped and sexually assaulted minors.

However, experts say it will be difficult to implement the revision as there have been no initiative to address the issue at the National Assembly since a revised bill was first introduced July 25.