Korea's Broadcasting Commission Chair Warned for Political Bias During Suspension

On July 8, 2025, the Board of Audit and Inspection issued a warning to Lee Jin-sook (이진숙), the Chairperson of the Korea Communications Commission (방송통신위원회), for violating her political neutrality obligations as a public servant. This warning came after she made critical remarks about the Democratic Party (더불어민주당) during a YouTube appearance while her duties were suspended due to impeachment proceedings initiated by the party.

Lee was appointed as the Chairperson on July 31, 2022, by then-President Yoon Suk-yeol (윤석열). On the same day, she, along with the then Vice Chair Kim Tae-kyu (김태규), approved the appointment of new board members for MBC and KBS, which led to accusations from opposition parties that she had violated the Broadcasting Act by making decisions without the required number of commissioners.

Following the approval of the impeachment motion on August 2, 2022, Lee's duties were suspended. The Constitutional Court later dismissed the impeachment on January 23, 2023, with a split decision.

On November 14, 2022, while her duties were still suspended, Lee appeared on YouTube and stated that the Democratic Party and leftist groups "do everything we can imagine." This prompted the Democratic Party to request an audit from the Board of Audit and Inspection, claiming her comments breached the political neutrality required by the State Public Officials Act.

The audit report revealed that Lee made several appearances on YouTube between September and October 2022, where she made remarks that directly referenced or could be inferred to relate to the Democratic Party. For instance, during a September broadcast, when introduced as a "conservative warrior," she expressed gratitude and stated, "We need warriors to fight against these fake leftists."

On September 25, she remarked that MBC should be a public broadcaster that monitors both sides but referred to it as a "Democratic Party broadcasting company." On October 4, she described a parliamentary meeting regarding the Korea Communications Commission as "parliamentary violence," criticizing the Democratic Party members present.

The Board of Audit and Inspection concluded that Lee's comments went beyond personal opinion and clearly expressed opposition to a specific political party, indicating a significant breach of political neutrality. They determined that her actions violated Article 65 of the State Public Officials Act, which prohibits political activities by public servants.

The Board advised Lee, as a head of an agency requiring stricter political neutrality and dignity than regular public officials, to refrain from participating in media appearances that could undermine the trust in public service or violate her political neutrality obligations in the future.