Thursday, September 04, 2008

KBS PRESIDENT:

[The Hankyoreh, August 27 2008] Lee Myung-bak appoints new KBS president

KBS employees and civic groups respond with announcements that they will continue to protest the controversial appointment

President Lee Myung-bak appointed KBS Business President Lee Byong-soon as the new president of the Korean Broadcasting System on August 26.

The new appointee will complete the term of former KBS President Jung Yun-joo, which will last until November 2009. Lee began working for KBS in 1977 and was previously the president of KBS Media.

[The Hankyoreh, August 25 2008] [Editorial] Use of unofficial authority poisons selection of KBS president

There is widespread criticism of how key members of the Lee Myung-bak administration met secretly prior to the choosing of KBS’s new president to discuss what to do about it. The anger is completely natural because the news of this clearly reveals that the administration was conspiring to manipulate the broadcast media.

[The Hankyoreh, August 23 2008] Secret meeting held to appoint KBS president sparks widespread opposition

Korean Communications Commission chair, KBS board president and candidates for KBS president in attendance

Ahead of the naming of a new president of broadcaster Korean Broadcasting System, it has been revealed that Korean Communications Commission Chairman Choi Si-joong led a “secret meeting” between presidential chief of staff Chung Chung-kil, presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan, KBS board of directors chairman Yoo Jae-cheon and figures believed to be candidates to be the next KBS president.

[The Hankyoreh, August 23 2008] Foul play

Choi Si-joong of the Korea Communications Commission, the Blue House, and the head of the board of trustees at KBS are holding the broadcaster back so President Lee Myung-bak can score the man he wants in the position of president of KBS.

[The Hankyoreh, August 23 2008] [Editorial] Blue House should remove itself from KBS affair

It has been revealed that the Blue House is deeply involved in the KBS affair. It shows you how closely the Lee Myung-bak administration is plotting to manipulate the broadcast media when you learn that on August 17, influentials who constitute the inner circle of the administration met with KBS board chairman Yoo Jae-cheon and Kim Eun-gu, a former KBS board member and its presumptive next president.

On August 11 President Lee Myung-bak, while taking action of legally questionable legitimacy in firing KBS President Jung Yun-joo, said, “like other places, KBS must be reborn.” The best his administration could do to help it be reborn, however, was hold a strategy meeting to interfere in the choosing of the broadcaster’s new president. The people cannot help but be shocked at the inconsistency, since on the surface they have been talking about impartiality and political neutrality in broadcasting. Even more lamentable are the lies coming from those key administration figures, people who have repeatedly said they were not going to interfere. When the first news report exposing the Blue House’s involvement appeared, Kwak Kyung-soo, the Blue House’s senior public relations aide, expressed anger, saying the Blue House would demand a correction. It would have been more honest of him to just say the administration needs broadcasters favorable to it if it is going to succeed. Who will trust and follow a president whose administration lies with the regularity of a meal schedule?

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