Kim Woo-seok Appointed as Head of Broadcasting Media Commission: What This Means for South Korea

[Digital Today reporter Son Seul-gi] The Broadcasting, Media and Communications Review Committee (BMCRC) held a plenary session at 3 p.m. on March 23 at the Broadcasting Hall in Mok-dong, Seoul, and elected Kim Woo-seok as a standing commissioner.

Kim is a former commissioner of the Korea Communications Standards Commission. He has served as a visiting professor at Kookmin University’s Graduate School of Public Administration and as an adviser to the Presidential Committee for National Cohesion. National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik recommended him after consulting with the People Power Party, and President Lee Jae-myung approved his appointment on March 10.

A secret ballot to elect Kim as a standing commissioner failed at the committee’s first plenary meeting on March 12. Critics pointed to his role as a non-standing commissioner during former chair Ryu Hee-rim’s tenure, alleging he led efforts to impose heavy sanctions on reporting critical of the government. Some commissioners opposed his election for that reason, and members of the National Union of Media Workers’ BMCRC branch also called for his resignation.

The BMCRC is composed of nine commissioners: three presidential appointees, three nominees recommended by the National Assembly speaker, and three recommended by the National Assembly’s Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee. The committee elects three standing commissioners — including the chair and vice chair — by secret ballot. Commissioners serve three-year terms and may be reappointed once.

The inaugural nine commissioners are presidential appointees Ko Gwang-heon, Kim Jun-hyun and Jo Seung-ho; the National Assembly speaker’s nominees Kim Min-jung, Choi Seon-young and Kim Woo-seok; and the Science Committee’s recommendations Koo Jong-sang, Kim Il-gon and Hong Mi-ae.