The National Assembly will vote on appointing members of the Broadcast Media Telecommunications Commission at a plenary session on Feb. 12.

At a full meeting of the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee on Feb. 10, Choi Min-hee (최민희), chair of the committee and a lawmaker from the Democratic Party, said the makeup of the Broadcast Media Telecommunications Commission and the Broadcast Media Telecommunications Review Commission was largely finished. She said the review commission was in the final stage of personnel vetting at the presidential office, and that members of the Broadcast Media Telecommunications Commission would be approved at the Feb. 12 plenary session.

Under the Act on the Establishment and Operation of the Broadcast Media Telecommunications Commission, it consists of 7 members: 3 standing members, including the chair, and 4 non-standing members. The president nominates 2 members, including the chair. The ruling Democratic Party recommends 2 members, including 1 standing and 1 non-standing member, while the opposition People Power Party recommends 3 members, including 1 standing and 2 non-standing members. It currently operates with 2 members: Chair Kim Jong-cheol, appointed in December last year, and Ryu Shin-hwan, a non-standing member nominated by the president.

The commission requires the attendance of at least 4 incumbent members to open a meeting. If members recommended by the National Assembly are approved at the Feb. 12 plenary session, it will secure the minimum quorum needed to make decisions. Launched in October last year, the commission has been operating irregularly because vacancies prevented it from meeting the decision-making quorum.

The review commission consists of 9 members, with the president, the National Assembly speaker and the competent standing committee each recommending 3 members, and it is currently in the personnel vetting stage at the presidential office.

With the commission normalised, handling of pending issues is expected to move into full swing. Items awaiting action include revising enforcement decrees and rules following amendments to the three broadcasting laws, reshuffling the boards of KBS, MBC and EBS, reviewing renewal applications for terrestrial broadcasters whose licences have expired, and appointing heads and news directors at all-news channels.