[News Today] KCSC WHISTLEBLOWERS GO PUBLIC

[LEAD]
Whistleblowers from the Korea Communications Standards Commission have stepped forward, revealing their identities at a press conference. They've reported Chairman Ryu Hee-rim for 'petition ordering' and declared their readiness to cooperate with the police in investigating the alleged leakage of petitioner information.

[REPORT]
The allegation that Korea Communications Standards Commission Chairman Ryu Hee-rim asked his relatives and acquaintances to file petitions with the commission to review the appropriateness of Newstapa's allegedly fabricated interview was raised last December.

At the time, the commission levied fines on broadcasters that aired Newstapa's audio recording of Kim Man-bae and Shin Hak-lim shortly before the last presidential election.

The commission chief allegedly mobilized his relatives and acquaintances to file civil petitions with the commission.

Whistleblowers who reported the allegation to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission have convened a news conference to reveal their identities for the first time.

All three of them are employees of the Korea Communications Standards Commission's broadcasting team.
One of them, a man named Ji Kyung-kyu, said he had heard from his coworker that Ryu's younger sibling and son filed civil petitions in September last year, and found out using email information that they had personal connections to the commission chief.

Ji added he reported Ryu's violations of the Act on the Prevention of Conflict of Interest Related to Duties of Public Servants to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission in December last year, but the case has never been investigated properly.

When asked why he did that, Ji said every member of a state-run organization has the obligation to report irregularities and acts that hurt public interests. Ji pledged to cooperate with police on the allegation of leaking petitioners' personal information.

Police are investigating concurrently the allegation of the KCSC chief's civil petitioning scandal and the leak of petitioners' personal information by the whistleblowers.

Meanwhile, the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee has decided to hold a hearing on the allegation involving the KCSC chief, while Seoul Metropolitan Council members from the People Power Party have filed an accusation with prosecutors against Democratic Party members of the committee for alleged power abuse.

The PPP's media law team has filed an accusation against the whistleblowers for violating the Personal Information Protection Act. It accused them of distorting the media by colluding with certain media outlets and shaking the status of the KCSC chief.