| Lee Jin-sook, former head of the Korea Communications Commission, speaks during a parliamentary audit held by the National Assembly’s Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee in Yeouido, Seoul, on Tuesday. (Yonhap) |
Lee Jin-sook, the former head of the now-defunct Korea Communications Commission, slammed the Lee Jae Myung administration at a parliamentary audit, saying her arrest earlier this month showed what happens when someone falls out of favor with the president.
“Being dismissed was something I could have imagined,” Lee said during a parliamentary audit conducted Tuesday by the National Assembly’s Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee. “But to be arrested, handcuffed, and taken away just two days later — right before Chuseok — was beyond belief.”
Appointed under the previous Yoon Suk Yeol administration, Lee was automatically removed from office following the enactment of a law dismantling the Korea Communications Commission on Sept. 30. The legislation was part of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's broader initiative to reform the broadcasting sector.
She was arrested two days after her dismissal. Authorities cited her repeated failure to comply with a summons for questioning over allegations that she violated election laws and breached political neutrality. She was released after a court review the next day.
The charges stem from remarks Lee made on conservative YouTube channels in 2024, where she is accused of statements denouncing Lee Jae Myung, who was the Democratic Party's candidate for president in 2022 and widely expected to run again in the next presidential election.
“I thought to myself, is this what happens when you fall out of favor with one president?” she said. “They may not handcuff me again, but the message is clear.”
The People Power Party condemned the former chief's detention, with Rep. Park Choong-kwon saying, “It was a public purge meant to show what happens when you stand up to Lee Jae Myung and the Democratic Party."
The Tuesday audit also examined the status of the new broadcasting regulator, the Broadcasting and Communications Media Commission, which replaced the KCC.
With the positions of chairperson, vice chair and standing commissioners still vacant, the commission was represented at the audit by agency spokesperson Ban Sang-kwon, who attended in the capacity of acting chair.
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