▲ President Yoon Seok-yeol, who visited Japan for two days and one night in March last year, inspects the honor guard with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo and shows respect to the flags of both countries. ⓒYonhap News
Last year, KBS’s ‘Sasageeongeon’, which reported that President Yoon Seok-yeol was saluting the Japanese flag during a visit to Japan, avoided severe disciplinary action.
On the 26th, the Broadcasting Deliberation Subcommittee of the Korea Communications Standards Commission decided by a majority vote to make a recommendation to KBS’s ‘Personal Cases’. The recommendation corresponds to administrative guidance that is lower than the statutory sanctions reflected in the re-approval review of broadcasting companies.
On March 16th last year, Beom Ki-young, anchor of KBS’s ‘Seven Cases’, broadcasted a visit to Japan event and said, “You just saw President Yoon saluting the Japanese flag. “The Taegeukgi is installed on the podium, but I don’t think the honor guard will be holding our flag,” he said. At the time, the Japanese honor guard held both the Japanese flag and the Taegeukgi, which was different from the truth. When the screen angle changed and the Korean national flag was revealed, KBS apologized for making a mistake in explaining the situation, and also apologized on the main news that day.
Chairman Ryu Hee-rim, Lee Jeong-ok, and Moon Jae-wan, who were recommended by President Yoon Seok-yeol, gave a recommendation opinion, and member Yoon Seong-ok, recommended by the Democratic Party of Korea, gave an opinion of ‘no problem’ and it was passed as a recommendation by a majority vote.
Park Jin-hyeon, director of KBS Current Affairs Production Department, who attended as a statement of opinion, said, “After (the statement), as another video came in, I realized that the Taegeukgi was right behind the Japanese flag, and I realized that it was a misinformation.” He added, “The moment I found out about the misinformation, I should immediately broadcast an apology.” “I made a decision and issued an apology,” he said.
Director Park Jin-hyeon said, “We have issued a warning and caution to the production team. As a measure to prevent recurrence, we must thoroughly prepare in advance when broadcasting major events live, refrain from making definitive statements on unclear issues as much as possible, exclude subjective assumptions, and focus only on facts.” “I ordered it to be broadcast,” he said.
Chairman Ryu Hee-rim defined it as a “mistake that occurred due to haste” and asked, “What measures is being prepared at the KBS level in preparation for live broadcasting or live broadcasting?” Director Park Jin-hyeon said, “We are fully aware and are emphasizing to the anchors that it is impossible for anchors to cause confusion through useless comments in situations where they do not know properly.”
▲ Korea Communications Standards Commission Chairman Ryu Hee-rim is speaking at the first general meeting of 2024 held at the Korea Broadcasting Center in Mok-dong, Seoul on the afternoon of January 8. ⓒYonhap News
Commissioner Lee Jeong-ok said, “The fact that we apologized right away and apologized multiple times is evaluated as a sincere response,” and “The actions taken within the company are also evaluated as an effort to do our best.” Commissioner Lee Jeong-ok said, “I have listened to opinions for about two months (after being appointed as a member), and I think this is the first time I have responded in such a sincere manner. “We feel at ease,” he said.
Commissioner Lee Jeong-ok, a former KBS member, said, “What’s unfortunate is that in the past, announcers did a lot of broadcasting. “So I knew in advance how the diplomatic event would proceed and had a lot of information, but I think the reporter made a mistake while proceeding,” he also pointed out.
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Commissioner Moon Jae-wan said, “It is clear that it was inappropriate and wrong,” but added, “We have acknowledged the incident and apologized several times, and considering that we have well established measures to prevent recurrence, we will continue to maintain our recommended opinion.”
On the other hand, Commissioner Yoon Seong-ok said, “The ‘apology broadcast’ of sanctions under the Broadcasting Act has already been ruled unconstitutional,” and added, “If the level is determined based on the apology, the sanctions will have a practical effect. “So it seems unfair.” Commissioner Yoon Seong-ok said, “The president can be misunderstood at any time. “Even if there is controversy, I believe it will naturally be corrected in the public forum and the people will make their own judgment,” he said.
