Rival parties bicker over state broadcaster KBS's impartiality By Shin Hae-in

SEOUL, Sept. 19 (Yonhap) -- Rival parties locked horns Friday over the
impartiality of public broadcaster KBS as disputes continue to run high here over
accusations that the government is trying to tame the country's largest
broadcasting firm.
The seven-month-old Lee Myung-bak government has been seeking sweeping changes in
the media, including what critics see as his handpicked appointment of Lee
Byung-soon, the new president of KBS.
During a parliamentary session Friday, the new KBS chief, who assumed the post
less than a month ago, was grilled by opposition legislators charging he
deliberately fired employees who opposed his appointment and airing of biased
pro-government programs.
Governing party lawmakers defended the new chief, arguing the broadcaster was
finally "normalizing" its left-leaning propensity under its former head.
"KBS conducted 'retaliatory personnel changes,' proving its inability to remain
politically neutral and impartial," Rep. Jun Byung-hun of the main opposition
Democratic Party said.
KBS conducted an unexpected personnel reshuffle late Wednesday night, which
included sending 95 employees to regional branches or to less important posts.
Over half of them were considered dissidents to their new chief and the Lee
government's media policy.
On Aug. 8, KBS' board of directors voted in favor of sacking former company chief
Jung Yun-joo, who was appointed to the post for two consecutive terms by
ex-President Roh Moo-hyun. Jung has been indicted on charges of mismanagement
and breach of trust.
The ousting of Jung, an ex-newspaper journalist and an outspoken critic of the
Lee government, removed one of the biggest hurdles to the president's plan to
privatize state-run television channels, which is strongly opposed by
broadcasters while welcomed by market-dominating newspaper companies.
Since his inauguration in February, Lee has not been so secretive about his
"mega-media plan," which will include sweeping deregulation of laws that have so
far prevented a small number of firms from dominating the media.
Lee proposes allowing a single firm to own a daily newspaper as well as cable and
online news channels to promote competition.
The current media law prohibits cross-ownership of print media and television
stations.
The plan has triggered strong concerns here as only three right-leaning
vernacular newspapers, already controlling nearly 70 percent of print media
circulation, have enough resources to enter into the television industry.
The three have been eager for the chance to extend their influence to television
and are highly supportive of President Lee and his policies. South Korea's three
terrestrial channels, KBS, MBC and SBS, presently attract a combined total of
about 50 percent of TV viewers, the rest turning to cable and other available
broadcasts, according to government data.
The governing Grand National Party remains supportive of Lee's media plans,
claiming the sacking of former KBS head came as a matter of course.
"Former KBS president did not step down due to his ties with the former
administration, but due to his faulty management of the company, which caused
tens of billions of won of losses," said ruling party lawmaker Na Kyung-won. "The
new chief will do a good job in rebuilding the firm's financial structure and
fixing the biased programs."