Revised Broadcast Law to Be Proposed This Week

Grand National Party Rep. Jang Yoon-seok said on Monday, “A revised broadcast bill will be submitted to the National Assembly within this week in order to make commercials in the middle of programs meet the requirements of the broadcast law, instead of the current enforcement ordinance of the broadcast law.”

The Korean Broadcasting Commission (KBC), which decided to alleviate restrictions on commercials in the middle of terrestrial network programs on last Friday, is planning to lay out the details of the enforcement ordinance, which stipulates how many and how often commercials will be allowed. The enforcement ordinance of the broadcast law can be passed by the Cabinet without the approval of the National Assembly.

“The revised broadcast law will prevent the KBC from single-handedly allowing commercials in the middle of programs. Despite the fact that terrestrial broadcasts are virtually public entities, commercials in the middle of programs benefit only advertisers and broadcasters, and force audiences to be exposed to advertisements,” Jang added.

taylor55@donga.com