Broadcast Communications Review Committee signboard (/Courtesy of Broadcasting Communication Review Committee)

On the 23rd, the Korea Communications Standards Commission held a general meeting at the Mokdong Broadcasting Hall in Yangcheon District and decided to issue a legal sanction, a "warning," regarding KBS 2TV's "KBS News 6," where concerns were raised about the excessive exposure of a specific red ginseng product in the news.

The program reported on the benefits and rarity of red ginseng oil products, citing clinical trial results for patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia, during a broadcast on Sep. 4 last year, which led to public complaints regarding the exposure of the product name. A KBS official present at the statement hearing noted, "It was clearly a mistake, and we suspended exposure, such as replays, immediately after recognizing the disclosure of the product name."

However, Commissioner Kim Jung-soo criticized, "The level of product exposure was severe, and it is hard to believe that it went unnoticed at three stages: the pre-broadcast stage, the broadcast stage, and the stage of corrective requests from the Commission." Representative Kang Kyung-pil also pointed out, "The fact that it was possible to watch the news in the same manner for one year and three months is more serious. There are no measures to prevent recurrence." Chairperson Ryu Hee-rim stated, "It is inevitable to impose a severe penalty given that they claimed no product name was exposed without even reviewing the footage and questioned what had gone wrong."

The Commission partially blurred scenes of school violence, such as a student hitting another friend's head with both hands and feet or grabbing and pulling hair, but also decided to issue a legal sanction of "caution" for MBC TV's "MBC News Today Part 2" (Nov. 1 last year), which displayed excessively violent scenes.

Chairperson Ryu noted, "They reported serious scenes in a sensational manner," adding, "How much trauma must the victim's family have suffered? However, considering that the footage was deleted afterward and the mistake was acknowledged, this mitigates the situation."

In a scene where the main character, a sign language interpreter, expresses sign language for "mountain," an anchor stated, "That was quite a treat. No, it’s a mountain," while displaying the middle finger, causing controversy in the MBC TV drama "The Call You Are Making" (Nov. 22).

The Commission also decided to hear statements from officials regarding the KBS 2TV entertainment program "Animals Are Great," which faced complaints for glorifying the owner of a dog slaughterhouse that had operated for decades.

For the CJB TV's "CJB 8 News" (Oct. 11 last year), which used interviews from reports made 1 year and 4 months ago without indicating that they were "archival materials," corrective measures were taken against the responsible reporter, and an administrative action of "recommendation" was issued based on the establishment of preventive measures.

The decisions made by the Commission are categorized into "no issues," administrative guidance stages of "opinion presentation" and "recommendation," and legal sanctions such as "caution," "warning," "program corrections, modifications, or suspensions, and disciplinary actions against relevant personnel," and "penalty surcharge." Legal sanctions are recognized as severe penalties, as they become reasons for point deductions during the re-authorization and re-approval of broadcasting companies.