National Assembly Broadcasting Committe's audit: ruling and opposition parties battle over KBS and MBC

[Anchor]

Today (10.14), during the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee's audit, a dispute arose between the ruling and opposition parties regarding the reporting of broadcasting companies.

The Democratic Party primarily criticized KBS, while the People Power Party focused on MBC.

Reporter Kim Jin-ho has the details.

[Report]

The National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee audit.

The People Power Party mainly targeted MBC, while the opposition parties, including the Democratic Party, directed their questions at KBS.

The People Power Party raised concerns about the fairness of MBC's reporting.

[Shin Sung-bum/Member of the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee/People Power Party: "Is it right to be this excessive? I think MBC is declaring that it wants to be a partisan broadcaster."]

[Kwon Tae-sun/Chairman of the Foundation for Broadcasting Culture: "The media fundamentally criticizes power, and it is not right to interfere with how many reports are made."]

On the other hand, the Democratic Party questioned the fairness of KBS's reporting.

[Hwang Jung-a/Member of the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee/Democratic Party: "(Regarding the case of Myung Tae-kyun), KBS is not even reporting it, which is why it is being called a government lapdog, and its credibility is plummeting."]

[Park Min/KBS President: "We instructed not to report on unverified allegations. We only report on clearly verified facts."]

The ruling party questioned MBC's issues with excessive management, such as the cash usage of executive business expenses, while the opposition party pressed KBS's management for its inadequate response to the separate collection of license fees.

[Lee Sang-hui/Member of the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee/People Power Party: "They used 2 billion won in cash, not by credit card, for business expenses against former and current MBC executives. (Civic groups) reported this."]

[Lee Hoon-gi/Member of the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee/Democratic Party: "The Constitutional Court ruling states that license fees are essential for realizing broadcasting freedom. However, with separate collection, the license fees are dropping significantly."]

Meanwhile, opposition members of the committee stated that they cannot accept YTN President Kim Baek's excuse for not attending due to an overseas trip to meet with CNN executives, and warned that if he does not appear at the audit tomorrow (10.15), they will issue a summons.

KBS News, Kim Jin-ho.