People Power Party Submits Motion to Recuse Rep. Han Jun-ho from KBS Audit
Members of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) on the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee on the 16th submitted a motion to the committee chair to recuse Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Han Jun-ho from a National Assembly audit, citing allegations that he pressured KBS news coverage. The motion seeks to bar Han, who faces suspicion of interfering with press coverage, from participating in the committee's audit of KBS held that day and its comprehensive audit scheduled for the 22nd. The PPP members explained, "Under relevant laws, an audit committee member must follow recusal and avoidance procedures when they have a direct conflict of interest with the matter under review or there are significant circumstances preventing fairness." If the recusal is approved, Han will be unable to take part in questioning or voting during the audits.
The motion appears to be a countermeasure to the recusal of PPP Rep. Lee Jin-sook, which was approved on the 12th by the opposition-controlled committee. Lee was recused over potential conflicts of interest between her prior duties as broadcasting commission chair and the subjects of the audit. At the audit that day, PPP Rep. Kim Jang-kyom argued, "If recusal motions are being raised, Secretary Han Jun-ho should be recused from matters concerning KBS as well. That is the only way to avoid bias."
The allegations first arose from a point raised by Rep. Kim Jang-kyom. In September, Kim claimed that an aide in Han's office had called a KBS reporter to take issue with coverage of former Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won.
However, KBS officials who appeared at the audit as witnesses and reference persons gave accounts that contradicted the interference claims. When asked whether the aide had directly called the reporter who wrote the article and whether KBS had actually felt pressured, Cho Kwang-ho, president of the KBS Journalists' Association, said he understood the call was not between the aide and the article's author, and that he found it difficult to agree it constituted press interference. Cho added that his conclusion was that even the company itself did not view the incident as interference.
Han's office issued a press release the same day, stating, "Rep. Han never requested the deletion or revision of the article in any manner," and adding that "the testimony of the KBS Journalists' Association president and vice president, who appeared before the Assembly as reference persons and witnesses, contradicts Rep. Kim Jang-kyom's interference claims." His office also said, "We are actively cooperating with the police investigation, and once its results are released, we plan to take legal action against Rep. Kim Jang-kyom."
