Ex-broadcasting watchdog chief unfairly involved in YTN stake sell-off: state auditor

SEOUL, Sept. 14 (Yonhap) -- Former broadcasting and communications watchdog chief Lee Dong-kwan was unfairly involved in the course of the sell-off of a controlling stake in news cable channel YTN in 2023 when ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol was in office, the state auditor said Monday.

Under the Yoon administration's restructuring plan, Eugene ENT Co. acquired a 30.95 percent stake in YTN from two state-run companies -- KEPCO KDN, a subsidiary of Korea Electric Power Corp., and the Korea Racing Authority -- becoming the broadcaster's largest shareholder.

The two companies had earlier signed an agreement to sell only a 29.99 percent stake in YTN so that conglomerates can take part in the bidding without violating the regulation that bans such large companies from acquiring more than a 30 percent stake in broadcasters.

But Lee, then chairman of the Korea Communications Commission that has now been renamed the Korea Media and Communications Commission, demanded then a vice industry minister, whose identity was withheld, to ensure the two state-run firms sell off all of their stake, according to an audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI).

Lee also ordered officials of the broadcasting watchdog to send a formal document to the industry and the agriculture ministries, agencies overseeing the two firms, that it is desirable for the two to sell off their entire stake, the BAI findings showed.

The vice industry minister then demanded the two firms to change their agreement and sell off their entire stake.

"By unfairly having KDN and the Korea Racing Authority change an agreement that they legitimately concluded, the autonomy of their decision-making was infringed upon, and as a result, only three companies participated in the bidding, effectively excluding large enterprises," the BAI said.

The audit agency said it sent its findings about Lee and the then vice industry minister to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials.

But the auditor said that the YTN stake was not sold at under the market prices.