Ex-union head at MBC slams stance on media reform

Jeong Su-chae urges colleagues to reconsider views, accept 'change'

A former chief producer and founder of one of two labor unions at MBC-TV launched a stinging attack on the channel's opposition to media reform bills at the National Assembly when he retired this week after nearly 30 years in the industry.

Jeong Su-chae, 58, who left the company on Tuesday, said MBC's strong opposition to the bills is an act of "turning away from change" simply to secure its own vested interests, and he urged his former colleagues to reconsider their stance.

MBC has two labor unions. Jeong established the minority Fair Broadcasting Labor Union, consisting of 58 out of 200 senior-level workers, in 2007. It started out working for the welfare of senior employees but it has evolved in recent years against MBC's official and dominant labor union, which has 800 workers in the junior level out of 1,740 total. The two labor unions with a huge gap in scale have conflicting political views and their feud has intensified after President Lee Myung-bak took office last year. While the left-wing majority union has opposed a slew of Lee government policies, Jeong's union has taken the opposite direction.

The media law revisions, if passed by the legislature, are expected to lift a ban on cross-ownership of print media, news agencies and TV channels, allowing newspapers to possess a major stake in broadcasters, including MBC.

The current administration and the ruling Grand National Party say the reforms will diversify the media industry, but their counterparts claim they will allow conglomerates and the government to exert undue influence over the media.

The main opposition Democratic Party, though, has called the media reform bills "MB's evil bills", and some of its lawmakers are trying to block an assembly committee session in the National Assembly from voting on them.

"[The] DP has been heavily reliant on MBC for a range of issues, from mad cow disease to the candlelit vigils and media law revisions", said Jeong.

"The party is desperately opposing the media reform bills because it worries it will lose political leverage if MBC is lost [to the government]", he said, saying that MBC's main labor union is also constantly asking the DP and civic groups for protection.

"I wonder why the union has thrown away its self respect and is sending out an SOS".

He stressed that the broadcaster ran "unfair and partial" content while the past two left-wing administrations were in power.

By Lee Sang-bok, Seo Ji-eun