The prosecution requested an arrest warrant for Han Sang-hyeok, chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, who is suspected of unfairly intervening in the re-approval review process for general programming channel TV Chosun, but the court rejected it.
At the Seoul Northern District Court, chief judge Lee Chang-young, who is in charge of warrants, dismissed the arrest warrant for a chairman today (30th), saying, “There is room for dispute over the main charges, so the arrest at this stage excessively limits the suspect’s right to defend.”
After the arrest warrant was dismissed, Chairman Han met with reporters in front of the Dongbu Detention Center and said, “I will try to prove my innocence in the future and relieve the injustice of our (Korea Communications Commission) employees.”
During the Q&A, a conservative YouTuber broke in and shouted, “My subordinates have been arrested. Just because they were released today is not innocent,” Chairman Han said, “I feel sorry for those inside. I will fight in the future.”
Chairman Han is accused of intervening in intentionally deducting the score of TV Chosun at the time of the reapproval of the comprehensive programming channel by the Korea Communications Commission in 2020.
There is also a suspicion that he ordered the staff of the Korea Communications Commission and the chairman of the jury to reduce the final evaluation score of TV Chosun.
TV Chosun exceeded the re-approval standard of more than 650 points out of 1,000 with a total score of 653.39 in the 2020 screening.
However, it was conditionally re-approved as it received 104.15 points out of 210 points in the key examination item, ‘realization of public responsibility and fairness in broadcasting and the need for local, social, and cultural needs’, falling short of 50%.
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