KBS files constitutional petition against revision separating fee collection

심선아 / 2023-07-12 12:22:01

KBS-constitutional petition

▲ KBS CEO Kim Eui-cheol is seen in this file photo. (Yonhap)

KBS-constitutional petition

KBS files constitutional petition against revision separating fee collection

SEOUL, July 12 (Yonhap) -- Public broadcaster KBS filed a petition with the Constitutional Court on Wednesday against a revision requiring the collection of license fees for the company separately from electricity bills.

The petition comes on the day when a revised enforcement ordinance to the Broadcasting Act, which has the potential to significantly impact the broadcaster's revenue structure, came into force.

Since 1994, KBS has charged a monthly fee of 2,500 won (US$1.93) to every household with a television receiver, and the fee has been embedded in the monthly electricity invoice, a measure aimed at ensuring all households pay the fee.

"We cannot accept the revision as it is evident the separate fee collection will cause huge damage and confusion among the people," KBS CEO Kim Eui-cheol said in a statement to announce the company's filing of the petition.

He argued that the revision will have the company waste more than 200 billion won (US$15.46 million) from TV viewers' hard-earned money to separately collect fees, instead of using the funds to fulfill its public duties, forcing the broadcaster to inevitably reduce or eliminate its public-purpose programs.

He explained the revision will merely inconvenience viewers by requiring them to pay the license fees separately from their electricity bills, as their obligation to pay the bills remains unchanged despite the separation.

Separately from responding to the revision, Kim made a public apology over the incident in the statement.

"I realize the fact that despite KBS's best efforts to fulfill challenging public duties that commercial broadcasters find difficult to undertake, it has not sufficiently demonstrated its value to the public in the rapidly changing media environment. I sincerely apologize for this," he said.

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