New KBS president apologizes for broadcaster's biased reporting

Park Min cited several reports by KBS that later turned out to have been false, including allegations of illegal collusion between Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon and Channel A reporter Rhee Dong-jae.

KBS new president Park Min and executives of the broadcaster apologizes to the public over biased and false reports at the KBS Hall in Yeouido, Seoul, on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

Public broadcaster KBS's new president, Park Min, apologized for biased reports from its news department and promised to cut executive salaries by 30 percent.

“I deeply regret and apologize for losing the public’s trust by damaging fairness, the key value of public broadcasting,” Park said during a press conference Tuesday.

It was Park’s second day on the job.

“For the past few years, there has been continuous debate over [KBS's] unfair and biased reports,” Park said.

The new president also pointed to allegedly biased panel discussions and biased hosts of current affairs radio and TV shows in recent years.

Left-wing journalist Joo Jin-woo, host of the radio show “Joo Jin-woo Live,” and the main anchor on KBS's evening news program were sacked Monday.

“We will prevent misreporting through fact checks and apologize for misreporting, airing corrections at the beginning of the news as a matter of principle,” Park said.

“We will make fairness and truth our management’s top priority,” Park said.

Park cited several reports by KBS that later turned out to have been false, including allegations of illegal collusion between Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon and Channel A reporter Rhee Dong-jae, untrue claims by former actor Yoon Ji-oh regarding the death of her colleague Jang Ja-yeon and fake witness accounts by a restaurant owner regarding Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon during the mayoral by-election in 2021.

All of those reports were made during the Moon Jae-in government.

Channel A reporter Rhee was imprisoned for 202 days after his arrest in July 2020. However, he was acquitted of charges of conspiring with then-prosecutor Han against Rhyu Si-min, former politician and Health Minister of the Roh Moo-hyun government.

The actress Yoon, who had claimed to have seen a list of influential people with whom her colleague was forced to drink and sleep, turned out to be untrue.

Yoon, whom Democratic Party Rep. An Min-suk invited to testify before the National Assembly, was designated as a public service whistle-blower, which the government protects.

However, Yoon fled to Canada after she was accused of falsifying her accounts and using her position to collect donations.

KBS also ran a false report during the by-election in 2021 that current Seoul Mayor Oh made problematic real estate investments. Oh was a mayoral candidate at the time.

The report was based on a restaurant owner who falsely claimed that Oh came to his restaurant.

KBS President Park Min at a press conference held in Seoul on Tuesday. It was his second day at the job. [YONHAP]

KBS's new president also pledged major restructuring, starting with a 30 percent salary cut for its executives and voluntary retirements.

He stressed that restructuring is necessary to improve inefficiency, a chronic problem within the organization that has generated losses for years.

Park predicted KBS will report an 80 billion won ($ 60 million) deficit this year.

The government separated television license fees previously included in household electricity bills in July.

With more people watching TV through Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), the government considered the television license fees a form of double charging.

KBS was the biggest benefactor of the billing system as it took 91 percent of the 2,500-won television license fee, while 3 percent went to the Educational Broadcasting System.

Kepco took 6 percent as a commission for billing households.

Television license fees through electricity bills accounted for 45 percent of KBS's revenue last year at 693.5 billion won.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]