Chairman Kim Jong-cheol presides over the 14th plenary meeting of the Broadcasting, Media, and Communications Committee [Photo by Yoo Hyun-min]

The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) has initiated the process of reorganizing the governance structure of public broadcasters by finalizing the organizations that will recommend directors for the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), the Korea Broadcasting Cultural Promotion Foundation (MBC's major shareholder, visit site), and the Educational Broadcasting System (EBS).

The KCC announced on the 29th that it had approved the director recommendation organizations for KBS, the Korea Broadcasting Cultural Promotion Foundation, and EBS at its 14th plenary meeting.

This is the first measure to formally proceed with the director appointment process for public broadcasters since the enactment of the revised Broadcasting Act three laws last year.

For KBS and the Korea Broadcasting Cultural Promotion Foundation, three broadcasting and media-related academic societies, including the Korean Association for Broadcasting and Media Studies, the Korean Association for Journalism and Mass Communication Studies, and the Korean Society for Journalism and Communication Studies, were selected as recommendation organizations. Additionally, two lawyer organizations, including the Korean Bar Association and the Lawyers for Democratic Society, were chosen.

For EBS, the same three academic societies were selected, along with two educational organizations, including the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union and the Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations.

The KCC previously conducted a public recruitment from the 18th to the 26th, and a 12-member review committee, composed of experts in broadcasting, law, economics, technology, and viewership, conducted the review from the 27th to the 28th.

The selected organizations must recommend director candidates by the 26th of next month. KBS and the Korea Broadcasting Cultural Promotion Foundation will recommend a total of four individuals, with the academic societies jointly recommending two and each of the two lawyer organizations recommending one. EBS will recommend a total of three individuals, with the academic societies recommending one and each of the two educational organizations recommending one.

During the meeting, there were also debates among the committee members regarding the fairness of the review and the weight given to qualitative evaluations.

Committee member Lee Sang-geun pointed out, "Cases where organizations that were ahead in quantitative evaluation were reversed in qualitative evaluation have been repeated," adding, "It is difficult to understand logically." Lee Sang-geun also raised concerns about the repeated selection of the same academic societies and organizations as recommendation organizations for both KBS and the Korea Broadcasting Cultural Promotion Foundation.

Committee member Choi Soo-young also expressed concerns, stating, "There are worries that the outcome could be swayed by qualitative evaluations," and emphasized, "Improvements are needed to enhance political neutrality, procedural objectivity, and public acceptance."

Conversely, Chairman Kim Jong-cheol stated, "Quantitative evaluation only assesses minimum requirements, and qualitative evaluation must be conducted in parallel to assess the quality and history of activities," and added, "Respecting the expertise and independence of the review committee is the principle."

Following a vote, the KCC approved the agenda with 5 votes in favor and 1 against.

Chairman Kim stated, "The selection of these recommendation organizations is the first step in returning public broadcaster governance to the people," and vowed, "We will ensure that the subsequent director appointment process is also conducted transparently and objectively so that public broadcasters can be reborn as trusted by the public."

Meanwhile, the budget for 2027 and the operational plan for the Broadcasting and Communications Development Fund were also approved at the meeting.

The total expenditure amounts to 274 billion won, with a focus on strengthening public media sovereignty, accelerating the transformation (AX) of the broadcasting, media, and telecommunications sectors to artificial intelligence, and enhancing responses to illegal and false information and user protection.

Furthermore, detailed plans for the second half of the year's re-licensing of 28 terrestrial broadcasting companies and 103 broadcasting stations, whose license validity expires at the end of this year, were also approved.

The KCC explained that it reflected the intent of the revised Broadcasting Act and the direction of regulatory rationalization by establishing new evaluation items related to the operation of the programming committee and programming rules, and by minimizing subsidiary conditions for re-licensing.