The KBS chapter of the National Union of Media Workers decried a “News 9” anchor report Tuesday that mentioned and apologized for instances of “unfair” or “biased” reporting singled out by the incoming network president.

The union chapter described the apology, which came in the wake of newly appointed KBS CEO Park Min’s declaration Monday of plans to “overcome accusations of partisanship,” as being a “reportorial disaster” and “disgrace to 50 years of KBS history.”

In a statement Wednesday, the union demanded an explanation from Park regarding allegations about the circumstances behind the report’s drafting and the figures in charge of writing it.

In a “News 9” report on Tuesday, anchor Park Jang-beom named four “representative examples of KBS’ reporting fairness being compromised”: a 2019 interview with actor Yoon Ji-oh in connection with a case involve the late actor Jang Ja-yeon, a 2020 report on transcripts concerning alleged prosecution-media collusion in connection with Channel A, a 2021 report on compensation for Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon’s land in the Naegok neighborhood, and a 2022 report quoting a Newstapa interview between Kim Man-bae and Shin Hak-lim.

Park spent approximately four minutes airing clips of the reports at the time and scenes from apologizes that were aired.

All four reports were mentioned by Park Min that day during a press conference addressing the South Korean public, in which he apologized for the network’s “unfair and biased reporting in the past.”

Park Jang-beom also made additional mention of 2019 reporting on wildfires in Gangwon Province’s Goseong and Sokcho and a 2023 false report about President Yoon Suk-yeol bowing before the Japanese flag.

“We once again promise our viewers that we will ensure there are no reports that are questionable in their political neutrality or for which fact-checking rules have not been faithfully observed,” he said.

The KBS chapter of the media union denounced the apology as one-sidedly “smearing” reporters without guaranteeing their right to a rebuttal.

Citing the report on Oh’s land in Naegok, the union noted, “Prosecutors declined to press charges despite the People Power Party submitting a complaint on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act.”

“Is it only ‘compromising fairness’ when it’s disadvantageous to particular figures in power?” it asked.

The union also said that the report “went up on top of the cue sheet unexpectedly that evening” and that the draft was “written by a department director who was not affiliated with the integrated newsroom.”

Speaking to the Hankyoreh, a union representative explained, “Ordinarily, the rule for anchor report drafts is the regular reporters investigate and write their own draft, after which the anchor writes the final draft based on that.”

“This time, there was no such presentation,” it added.

The union requested an emergency meeting of the fair broadcasting committee to determine what authority and process was applied behind the drafting of Park Jang-beom’s report. Based on a collective agreement, the fair broadcasting committee forms a committee consisting of four representatives each from labor and management to examine the circumstances behind the drafting of content that has been deemed problematic.

This week, the union plans to submit complaints against Park Min and the relevant official on charges of violating the Broadcasting Act and collective agreement with the replacement of producers for “Ju Jin-u Live” and the program’s termination as well as the removal of “The Live” from the network’s schedule.

By Park Kang-su, staff reporter

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