MBC's special audit results revisited; Kwon Tae-sun states, ‘It's not about deciding to stay or leave’

[Anchor]

During the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee's audit yesterday (10.14), the issue of whether the internal special audit of MBC on President An Hyeong-jun could lead to charges of complicity in breach of trust was raised.

A ruling party member from MBC claimed that President An obstructed the audit with false testimony, while the MBC's third labor union stated that his shortcomings as the president of a broadcasting company had been revealed. However, the chairperson of the Foundation for Broadcasting Culture, the major shareholder, said it was not a matter for her to decide on An's fate.

Reporter Kim Seong-joo has the story.

[Report]

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

Kim Jang-gyum, a member of the National Assembly from the People Power Party and a former president of MBC, questioned Kwon Tae-sun, the chairman of the Foundation for Broadcasting Culture.

The inquiry was about the results of the special audit conducted by MBC regarding the allegations raised when An Hyeong-jun applied for the presidency.

[Kim Jang-gyum/National Assembly Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee Member/People Power Party: "MBC conducted a special audit from February 22 to March 10, and the result was that President An Hyeong-jun could be charged with complicity in breach of trust."]

The allegations raised were that President An had held shares in a venture company since 2013, and the actual owner of those shares was a PD from a cable broadcasting company who was a junior of An's from school, and that he received those shares for free from the company.

[Kwon Tae-sun/Chairman of the Foundation for Broadcasting Culture: "I received a report that he could be complicit in breach of trust, but the statute of limitations has expired..."]

Representative Kim also claimed that when the audit began at the cable broadcasting company regarding this issue, President An falsely testified that he was the actual owner of the shares, thereby obstructing the audit.

The MBC's third labor union, which appeared at the audit, argued that President An lied in public and used it for his own benefit, indicating a lack of qualifications as the president of a public broadcasting company.

They also stated that despite these shortcomings, An was able to become the president of MBC due to lenient evaluations by the Foundation for Broadcasting Culture.

[Kang Myung-il/Chairman of MBC's Third Labor Union: "Despite the moral shortcomings, they covered it up and used it in press releases as if there were no problems, and the person who did that was this individual (Chairman Kwon Tae-sun)."]

Chairman Kwon Tae-sun expressed regret that An was facing such allegations but stated that there were no violations of the criteria for appointing a president.

[Kwon Tae-sun/Chairman of the Foundation for Broadcasting Culture: "It was not a cover-up; we acknowledged that there were issues, but that alone does not determine the president's fate..."]

MBC stated that President An has already apologized and received a non-prosecution disposition from the prosecution, and that raising the issue of morality again seems to be an attempt to tarnish his reputation.

KBS News, Kim Seong-joo.