Prosecutors raid office, home of liberal KCC chair

Korea Communications Commission (KCC) Chairman Han Sang-hyuk at the National Assembly on Feb. 9. [YONHAP]

Prosecutors on Thursday raided the home and office of Korea Communications Commission (KCC) Chairman Han Sang-hyuk, who is suspected of ordering evaluation board members to lower the score of a conservative cable TV network during its approval screening.

Han, an official appointed by former liberal President Moon Jae-in, has been under pressure to resign since the Yoon Suk Yeol government took office last May.

The Seoul Northern District Prosecutors’ Office raid came two days after prosecutors asked the court to sign off on an arrest warrant for a Gwangju University professor, one of 13 people on the board reviewing the approval of general programing cable TV networks in 2020.

Prosecutors believe the scores of TV Chosun were tampered with during the review to give the network a low score.

TV Chosun was given conditional approval after receiving a failing score in the fairness category, meaning it now faces reevaluation.

The Board of Audit and Inspection in September concluded in its investigation that some board members lowered their initial scores for TV Chosun.

The KCC under Han, who was pro-Moon, allegedly influenced the results against TV Chosun, a conservative media outlet then at odds with the liberal administration.

The agency’s audit, which kicked off in June after the Yoon government assumed office, was its first since 2019.

Since prosecutors took over the case in September, they have raided the KCC three times, as well as the evaluation members’ offices.

Two KCC officials, including one that headed the department in charge of broadcasting network approval, were also arrested between Jan. 31 and Feb.1 on charges of obstructing justice.

Han has denied ordered changes to the scores.

“I didn’t make orders and that is why I am certain that they [the two employees arrested] didn’t do it,” Han told lawmakers on Feb. 9 during a National Assembly hearing.

He said he had only realized that the scores were changed after issues were raised.

“The changes that were made all show up in the data,” Han said. “The members of the evaluation board crossed out the changes, stamped them and signed them.”

Han stressed that there were no ulterior motives behind changing the scores and that many people who have been accused and even arrested were ultimately acquitted by the court.

The general program cable TV networks — TV Chosun, JTBC and Channel A — were created by Korea's leading newspapers in 2011 and undergo an evaluation every three to five years.

If a network fails to pass its evaluation, the government strips its license.

TV Chosun was given conditional approval in 2020 and faces reevaluation in April this year. Channel A, also given conditional approval, will be reevaluated in April 2024.

Han has never been invited to one of Yoon’s cabinet meetings, and the KCC was one of the government institutes recently given the lowest performance score, along with the Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission, also led by a Moon-appointed liberal.

However, Han has vowed to remain in office until his tenure expires in July.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]