President Lee Myung-bak yesterday defended his controversial media reforms as measures to boost growth and jobs and make the industry more relevant to technological advancement.
"The convergence between broadcasting and telecommunications should proceed well so that many high-quality jobs can be created", Lee said during a meeting with Grand National Party leader Park Hee-tae.
He reaffirmed his commitment to developing the media industry as a new "growth engine".
The government is pushing a package of bills to overhaul the media industry by integrating broadcasting and telecommunications and lowering the barriers between newspapers and TV networks. It also seeks to allow large businesses and foreigners to invest more in TV businesses.
Opposition parties and labor unions vehemently oppose the proposal. They claim that the legislation would allow pro-government newspapers and for-profit conglomerates control of news channels at the expense of the media's commitment to public interest.
The GNP failed to pass the bills through the National Assembly due to resistance from the main opposition Democratic Party.
Tension is mounting as the GNP pledged to enact them during the next extra session in February and the opposition vowed a full-fledged battle.
Lee repeatedly expressed frustration with the opposition, which approaches the media reforms from a political view point.
"Media is the largest industry and a growth engine. We had been ahead (of the rest of the world) but now are lagging behind", he said. He added that media integration was a global trend and that the nation should not be left behind.
The government claims the media reforms will help create up to 290,000 jobs by 2012, which the opposition dismisses as too rosy an expectation.
The bills would allow newspapers and large firms to hold up to 20 percent of shares in terrestrial broadcasters, up to a 30 percent stake in comprehensive cable channels and up to 49 percent of news-only broadcasters.
Last week, the government announced plans to spend 2.8 trillion won ($2.06 billion) over the next five years in research and development projects for the convergence of broadcast and telecommunications, including advanced IPTV (Internet protocol television).
The Korea Communications Commission said related products and services will generate $220 billion exports and create 150,000 new jobs by 2018.
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