Passage of KBS fee hike delayed
Published on | Source
By Kim Rahn
The ruling Grand National Party's move to endorse a plan to raise Korea Broadcasting System's (KBS) viewing fees by 40 percent was suspended Thursday at a telecommunications subcommittee at the National Assembly.
The Democratic Party and other opposition party members boycotted a session to deliberate the controversial fee hike.
Rep. Kim Jae-yun of the DP, a member of the subcommittee, said that opposition party members agreed that they need further discussion before voting on the plan.
"We've agreed that voting on the fee increase is not appropriate as it needs more discussion between ruling and opposition party members", he said. "The hike in KBS fees is tantamount to raising quasi-taxes for the people. Therefore we need to debate further at the National Assembly".
Kim made it clear that there will be no more talks on the plan, at least not this month. In February, the Korea Communications Commission approved KBS's request to raise the monthly fee by 40 percent to 3,500 won ($3) from the current 2,500 won.
Protests growing
The decision comes as protests are growing against the plan to raise television viewing fees.
Civic groups and opposition parties claim KBS, a public broadcaster, is not acting in the public's interest and thus shouldn't receive more money.
An association of some 500 civic groups has called for the abolishment of the bill on a license fee hike, which the assembly's Culture, Sports, Tourism, Broadcasting and Communications Committee has discussed.
"KBS has failed to play the role of a public broadcaster. Regardless of the amount of the hike, we can't pay additional fees until it plays its proper role", said Lee Hee-wan of the Citizens' Coalition for Democratic Media, one of the association's groups.
The fee is included in electricity bills and thus automatically collected from every household. The charge is only for KBS, as MBC and SBS are private broadcasters and their revenue comes from advertisements.
The commission also allowed KBS to keep its ratio of advertizing revenue to its total budget at the current 40 percent despite the fee increase.
KBS, the commission and lawmakers from the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) claim the rise is necessary for the broadcaster to become a legitimate public one, saying the charge has remained at 2,500 won since 1981.
"Financial soundness will make KBS abide by public interest instead of chasing sensational programs, as we won't need to compete with private broadcasters for ratings. A reasonable fee will allow us to better perform our public duty", KBS President Kim In-kyu said.
Kim also claimed KBS needs 550 billion won to provide digital TV services, which will replace analog ones by the end of 2012.
Regarding this claim, opposition parties say that cutting its own expenses through restructuring is the first action KBS should take. They also raised doubts on KBS' public role, claiming it has already lost fairness.
The civic alliance said KBS doesn't play the role of public broadcaster. "It has lost its identity as a public broadcaster after the Lee Myung-bak administration appointed those favorable to the government as KBS executives. We'll pay additional fees when KBS really becomes public", said Lee of the alliance.
He also said the authorities' subscription increase plan aims to cut KBS' advertizing revenue so that advertisers will shift to cable TV channels to be run by conservative newspapers Chosun, JoongAng and Donga.
The groups said if the authorities decide on the increase, they will launch a campaign to refuse paying the fee, similar to the nationwide one made in 1980s in protest of KBS' regime-favorable reports.
"At that time, fee collectors visited each house and it was easy to not pay. But now the fee is included in the electricity bill, so we need to discuss how we'll launch the campaign", Lee said.
The ruling Grand National Party's move to endorse a plan to raise Korea Broadcasting System's (KBS) viewing fees by 40 percent was suspended Thursday at a telecommunications subcommittee at the National Assembly.
The Democratic Party and other opposition party members boycotted a session to deliberate the controversial fee hike.
Rep. Kim Jae-yun of the DP, a member of the subcommittee, said that opposition party members agreed that they need further discussion before voting on the plan.
"We've agreed that voting on the fee increase is not appropriate as it needs more discussion between ruling and opposition party members", he said. "The hike in KBS fees is tantamount to raising quasi-taxes for the people. Therefore we need to debate further at the National Assembly".
Kim made it clear that there will be no more talks on the plan, at least not this month. In February, the Korea Communications Commission approved KBS's request to raise the monthly fee by 40 percent to 3,500 won ($3) from the current 2,500 won.
Protests growing
The decision comes as protests are growing against the plan to raise television viewing fees.
Civic groups and opposition parties claim KBS, a public broadcaster, is not acting in the public's interest and thus shouldn't receive more money.
An association of some 500 civic groups has called for the abolishment of the bill on a license fee hike, which the assembly's Culture, Sports, Tourism, Broadcasting and Communications Committee has discussed.
"KBS has failed to play the role of a public broadcaster. Regardless of the amount of the hike, we can't pay additional fees until it plays its proper role", said Lee Hee-wan of the Citizens' Coalition for Democratic Media, one of the association's groups.
The fee is included in electricity bills and thus automatically collected from every household. The charge is only for KBS, as MBC and SBS are private broadcasters and their revenue comes from advertisements.
The commission also allowed KBS to keep its ratio of advertizing revenue to its total budget at the current 40 percent despite the fee increase.
KBS, the commission and lawmakers from the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) claim the rise is necessary for the broadcaster to become a legitimate public one, saying the charge has remained at 2,500 won since 1981.
"Financial soundness will make KBS abide by public interest instead of chasing sensational programs, as we won't need to compete with private broadcasters for ratings. A reasonable fee will allow us to better perform our public duty", KBS President Kim In-kyu said.
Kim also claimed KBS needs 550 billion won to provide digital TV services, which will replace analog ones by the end of 2012.
Regarding this claim, opposition parties say that cutting its own expenses through restructuring is the first action KBS should take. They also raised doubts on KBS' public role, claiming it has already lost fairness.
The civic alliance said KBS doesn't play the role of public broadcaster. "It has lost its identity as a public broadcaster after the Lee Myung-bak administration appointed those favorable to the government as KBS executives. We'll pay additional fees when KBS really becomes public", said Lee of the alliance.
He also said the authorities' subscription increase plan aims to cut KBS' advertizing revenue so that advertisers will shift to cable TV channels to be run by conservative newspapers Chosun, JoongAng and Donga.
The groups said if the authorities decide on the increase, they will launch a campaign to refuse paying the fee, similar to the nationwide one made in 1980s in protest of KBS' regime-favorable reports.
"At that time, fee collectors visited each house and it was easy to not pay. But now the fee is included in the electricity bill, so we need to discuss how we'll launch the campaign", Lee said.
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