[The Chosun Ilbo, May 13 2008] ‘Public Networks, not Dailies, Threaten Press Diversity’

An academic has called for safety mechanisms to prevent the monolithic public terrestrial networks from dominating the media market once the government lifts a ban on combined or cross-ownership of newspapers and TV stations. Prof. Moon Jae-wan of Hankook University of Foreign Studies’ College of Law, made the demand on Monday in a paper considering the impact of liberalization on the diversity of the press.

"Our broadcast industry has a deformed structure in which the state monopolizes broadcasting, with publicly-owned KBS and MBC accounting for 77 percent of sales," Moon says in the paper. "For the state to create a monopoly structure and then guarantee its commercial benefit to their staff in the name of combined management runs counter to the principle of equality."