The amendment to the Broadcasting Culture Promotion Act to increase the number of directors of the Broadcasting Culture Promotion Foundation, the major shareholder of MBC, passed the National Assembly plenary session on the 21st under the leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea. The amendments to the Broadcasting Act and the Broadcasting Culture Promotion Act, which are contentious among the three broadcasting laws, have passed, and only the amendment to the Korea Educational Broadcasting System Act (EBS Act) remains to be processed.
On this day, the National Assembly passed the amendment to the Broadcasting Culture Promotion Act with 169 votes in favor, 1 against, and 1 abstention out of 171 registered members. The EBS Act, which has not yet been processed among the three broadcasting laws, is expected to be put to a vote on the 23rd after the filibuster (unlimited debate) that starts on this day ends.
Regarding the amendment to the Broadcasting Culture Promotion Act, a filibuster was conducted at the request of the People Power Party and automatically ended at midnight on the 5th during the July extraordinary session. The National Assembly Act stipulates that a vote on the relevant bill shall be held at the first plenary session following the end of the filibuster.
The amendment to the Broadcasting Culture Promotion Act includes provisions to increase the number of directors of the Broadcasting Culture Promotion Foundation, the major shareholder of MBC, from 9 to 13. The Broadcasting Culture Promotion Foundation directors are recommended by the National Assembly (5), viewers' committee (2), employees (2), academic associations (2), and bar associations (2). The EBS Act also aims to increase the number of EBS directors from 9 to 13, with recommendations made by the National Assembly (5), viewers' committee (2), employees (1), academic associations (1), educational organizations (2), the education superintendent council (1), and the Minister of Education (1).
If the three broadcasting laws are enacted, KBS, MBC, and EBS directors must be reconstituted within three months. In addition, if terrestrial and comprehensive channels, as well as news specialist channels, do not establish programming committees with an equal number of labor and management representatives, fines will be imposed. The committee for recommending candidates for the public broadcasting president will be composed of more than 100 members to narrow down the candidate pool.
The Democratic Party argues that the three broadcasting laws will reduce political intervention in public broadcasting. In contrast, the People Power Party counters that public broadcasting directors will be filled with individuals favored by the ruling party or labor unions, thereby weakening political neutrality.
The Democratic Party plans to process all major contentious bills, including the EBS Act, the Yellow Envelope Act (Amendments to Articles 2 and 3 of the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act), and the Stronger Commercial Code (second commercial law amendment), by the 25th. The People Power Party intends to conduct a filibuster on each bill to respond to the ruling party's push for passage.