Over the 100 days, we reviewed tasks to improve systems in response to changes in the digital environment, while steadily preparing the policy foundation for user protection, restoring media trust, and responding to the AI era. However, at a time with many urgent issues surrounding broadcasting, media, and telecommunications, the formation of the commission has been somewhat delayed, which I find regrettable.
Chairperson Kim Jong-cheol of the Broadcasting, Media and Communications Commission said at a press briefing marking the 100th day in office, held at the Government Complex Gwacheon on the 30th, We will build a mid- to long-term foundation for the media industry to realize a centennial vision through the sustainable growth of Korea's broadcasting, media, and telecommunications industries, and we will ensure that outdated regulations—such as shifting the broadcast advertising regulatory framework and rationalizing programming regulations—no longer remain plans on paper but lead to tangible results. He added, The more contentious the interests at stake, the less we should pursue a one-sided solution. We will break down silos among relevant ministries and resolve issues based on social consensus.
Chairperson Kim noted that the Korea Media and Communications Commission (KMCC) aims to be a "public communication commission," and that the institution's ultimate purpose is to bring about tangible changes in people's lives.
He said, We will actively support the establishment of a tentatively named Media Development Committee under the Office for Government Policy Coordination to institutionalize the foundation for social discussion and public deliberation and make this the starting point for a major shift in media policy, adding, Through the Media Development Committee, we plan to support integrated discussions of regulation and promotion policies—covering legal and institutional foundations such as the Audiovisual Media Services Act that the Korea Media and Communications Commission (KMCC) is preparing, as well as funding structures in the broadcasting and media sector.
Chairperson Kim, seeking to elevate the commission into a control tower for the digital media ecosystem amid a rapidly changing media landscape, presented three keywords—order, trust, and leap—and outlined the commission's direction: establishing fair order; restoring and strengthening media trust based on order; and leaping toward the AI era based on trust.
On establishing fair order, he explained as a constitutional law scholar that regulation is not about suppressing freedom but a precondition for sustaining freedom and innovation, and that the role of the state is to guarantee freedom while forming a fair order. Chairperson Kim said, In an environment of intensifying global media competition, promotion without regulation and regulation without promotion are both unsustainable. The fairness and public responsibility of broadcasting remain core values that support media order. We will establish strict discipline so broadcasting can secure independence as a forum for democratic opinion formation, while providing support commensurate with public responsibility in parallel, so a healthy broadcasting ecosystem can be maintained.
Chairperson Kim also emphasized the importance of restoring and strengthening media trust, noting that deceptive practices such as algorithmic bias and filter bubbles (information binging), dark patterns (designs that induce choices users did not intend), as well as false or manipulated information and digital sex crime content, are shaking the safety and the foundation of public trust in our society. He said, At the center of the great digital transformation is not technology but "people." We will make clear that acts infringing on the dignity and value of human beings and the pursuit of happiness guaranteed by the Constitution—thereby undermining public trust—cannot be protected as freedom of expression, and we will respond more proactively and systematically.
He explained that, in line with the legislative intent of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection amended in January this year, the Korea Media and Communications Commission (KMCC) is steadily promoting the establishment of a Transparency Center as a dedicated body to comprehensively support voluntary fact-checking activities. Chairperson Kim said, For illegal information with clearly harmful social effects—such as drugs, gambling, sexual exploitation materials, and copyright-infringing content—we will strengthen platforms' distribution responsibility and actively pursue institutional improvements to enable faster blocking, adding, To address the negative impact of social media (SNS) overdependence on adolescents' mental health development, we will work with the National Assembly so that a wide range of experts and stakeholders can come together to discuss youth protection media policies.
He added, Strengthening the capacities of digital democratic citizens needed in the AI era is also an essential policy, so we reflected in the Ministry of Education's "democratic citizenship education implementation plan," established and released early this year, the media education content operated by the commission, and We are also working to activate online and offline media education across the life cycle and by social group, including AI use and the prevention of adverse effects.
Chairperson Kim also said that, as AI is fundamentally transforming the entire media environment—from content production, distribution, recommendation, and advertising to opinion formation—the Korea Media and Communications Commission (KMCC), as the lead ministry for media, plans to spearhead a media sovereignty AX (AI transformation) strategy across policy, administration, and industry. He said, In response to the AI-based media environment, we are reorganizing user protection systems, and internally we are promoting AI-based administrative innovation, reviewing various ways to enhance the precision and speed of policy, adding, To ensure the strategic adoption of AI within the media industry, we will consult with fiscal authorities to actively reflect related support budgets.