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Gone with the money

Published: 16 Oct. 2024, 19:56

Choi Il-koo, a star TV news anchor, has been continuing his radio program at the Traffic Broadcasting System (TBS) despite scanty pay with a “No to TBS Shutdown” banner hanging over his booth. He makes pleads for public help to keep the station alive more frequently than updating the road conditions. The station has been beseeching support from its listeners as often as possible.

TBS, a television and radio network founded in 1990 and much loved by bus and taxi drivers, is teetering on the brink of closure. Last month, it was officially kicked out of the umbrella of the Seoul Metropolitan Government after the Seoul Metropolitan Council in 2022 passed an ordinance to cut the city government budget subsidizing the radio station on the grounds of political bias.

TBS has become unsustainable after losing funding from the Seoul government that took up about 70 percent of its annual spending of 40 billion won ($29.3 million). TBS has turned decisively left under the patronage of progressive mayor Park Won-soon. Kim Ou-joon’s News Factory served as a snuggery for leftist figures and a power keg to fire off attacks on the opposition front. Kim allegedly had been paid handsomely for his service, picking up checks worth 2.45 billion won between 2016 and 2022. People Power Party (PPP) Rep. Choi Soo-jin suspected Kim was paid 1.10 million won to 2 million won for his two-hour show based on the TBS program budget.

Kim had been a blatant supporter of the Democratic Party. He harped on conservative candidates, including President Yoon Suk Yeol and current mayor Oh Se-hoon, during campaign season. He unabashedly used Oh for a satirical mockery in his show. PPP Rep. Lee Sang-hwi claimed that out of 196 disciplinary actions TBS received from the broadcasting watchdog since Kim’s show, 73.9 percent were owed to Kim. Former TBS executives must be found responsible for rewarding the rule breaker differentially with more than 2 billion won.

Kim is still active on a YouTube channel after he lost his show at TBS, while the staff he left behind must fret over their livelihoods and jobs. Mayor Oh in April opposed the TBS shutdown and asked for support, but was rejected by the city council dominated by PPP members.

Of 360 staff, 100 have already left the company on early retirement. Acting TBS CEO Lee Sung-koo also has offered to resign. In August, he openly asked Kim to share some of the riches he had gotten off TBS to help the company. TBS employees are rallying on the streets, begging the public to save their company. Figures who had benefited from TBS and executives who indulged them should apologize to the employees and citizens of Seoul and do their part to help the company.