DP says it will impeach new chair of state broadcasting watchdog

The liberal Democratic Party (DP) said it plans to impeach Lee Jin-sook, the new chief of the state broadcasting watchdog, hours after she took office on Wednesday.

Lee Jin-sook, the new chair of the Korea Communications Commission, speaks from the podium during her appointment ceremony at the Government Complex in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi, on Wednesday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

The liberal Democratic Party (DP) said it plans to impeach Lee Jin-sook, the new chief of the state broadcasting watchdog, hours after she took office on Wednesday.

Lee took up her position as chair of the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) earlier in the day after President Yoon Suk Yeol appointed her over protests from the DP and civic groups regarding her record as a senior journalist at MBC.

Lee is expected to hold a meeting of the KCC’s standing committee to name new directors at the Foundation for Broadcast Culture, which holds a majority stake in public broadcaster MBC.

The foundation’s directors control the appointment of MBC’s new president.

As chief of the KCC, Lee also holds the key to board member appointments of other public broadcasters KBS and EBS, which in turn can influence public opinion.

However, the DP has argued that Lee is violating the law by appointing new foundation directors, given that three seats on the KCC’s five-member standing committee are currently vacant.

The only other current standing member of the KCC is Kim Tae-gyu, a former vice chairman of the state-run Anti-corruption & Civil Rights Commission, who was appointed as the KCC’s vice chairman on Wednesday.

Under the Act on the Establishment and Operation of Korea Communications Commission, which regulates the workings of the broadcasting watchdog, only two of five KCC standing members must be present for the watchdog to issue binding resolutions.

The DP on Friday passed a bill amending the law to increase the legal quorum to four standing members, but that legislation is expected to be vetoed by the president.

The DP said it plans to submit its impeachment motion against Lee on Wednesday and present it to a plenary session of the National Assembly on Thursday.

The KCC’s standing committee was left vacant after the DP announced impeachment motions against chairman Kim Hong-il and later acting chairman Lee Sang-in. Both resigned after the DP said it would seek to unseat them.

During her inauguration ceremony, Lee Jin-sook promised to "work hard to restore public trust [in the media] by reestablishing the transparency and fairness of public broadcasting and media."

Lee became widely known as the country’s first female war correspondent by reporting from the field during the 1990-91 Gulf War and the Iraq War that began in 2003.

Member of civic groups comprised of media workers hold up placards protesting Lee Jin-sook's appointment as chair of the Korea Communications Commission as they walk into the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on Wednesday to submit a complaint against her for allegedly misusing corporate cards issued by MBC. [YONHAP]

However, during her three-day confirmation hearing last week, she faced accusations that she used her senior position at MBC to attack the broadcaster’s labor union.

On the same day as her appointment, three civic groups comprised of media workers filed a complaint with the state prosecution service alleging that Lee committed embezzlement by charging personal expenses to corporate credit cards issued by MBC.

According to the civic groups, Lee spent 140 million won on corporate cards from 2015 to 2018 while serving as president of MBC’s regional branch in Daejeon.

The groups claimed her corporate card expenses included stays at luxury hotels and resorts, high-end restaurants, golf courses and businesses near her home on holidays and weekends.

The groups also accused Lee of using an MBC corporate card even after stepping down from her post to purchase wine worth 15 million won.

Lee has claimed that she used the corporate cards per internal guidelines at MBC.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]