Kim Jong-cheol (김종철), chair of the Broadcast Media Communications Commission, visited entertainment and drama production sites at MBC and SBS on Wednesday and listened to difficulties faced by the broadcasting industry.

The commission said Kim began a "relay of visits to broadcast production sites" to push ahead with the state agenda task of "building a future-oriented digital and media ecosystem".

Kim spoke with on-site production staff, including cast members, directors of photography, writers, camera operators and props staff. Participants said rising production costs were making it difficult to produce diverse content. They also called for improvements to advertising and scheduling regulations that apply only to the broadcasting industry and not to OTT services.

Kim said, "Within the scope of not undermining the public's viewing rights, I will improve outdated regulations that do not fit the situation and lay the cornerstone for making Korea a global media power."

He added, "I will pursue various government support policies that introduce AI and digital technologies in the broadcast media sector to revamp the broadcasting industry's fundamentals and inject vitality into the field."

The commission plans to visit KBS, EBS, regional broadcasters, general programming channels and OTT operators to strengthen communication on the ground.