On the 26th, the Korea Communications Commission imposed a penalty surcharge of 30 million won on YTN for merging with its subsidiary YTN Plus without obtaining prior approval.
The Commission explained that a merger without approval is a violation of broadcasting law, but it considered factors such as the inconvenience to viewers due to work stoppage and the omission of the approval application due to lack of expertise, and the absence of intent in deciding on the penalty surcharge.
The Commission issued a corrective order to MBC, which had notified of program sponsorship only twice instead of the required minimum of three times as per the re-licensing conditions set in 2020. The Commission noted that MBC's violation of the regulation was minor and attributed it to an outside production company's error, and urged the company to prepare measures to prevent the recurrence of the same issue.
The Commission also decided on a corrective order for Gyeongin TV for violating the regulation that restricts new shareholders from disposing of their shares within three years. Additionally, it approved the re-licensing of 14 companies under the cable television operator D-Live, including D-Live Gangnam Cable TV and D-Live Gyeonggi East Cable TV, as well as Nam Incheon Broadcasting.