Normalisation of the Broadcast Media Telecommunications Commission is being delayed.

Political sources said on Feb. 13 that a motion to recommend members of the commission was not tabled at a National Assembly plenary session the previous day. The standing Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee had expected it to be handled on Feb. 12, but it fell through after the People Power Party did not attend the plenary session.

At a full committee meeting on Feb. 10, Choi Min-hee (최민희), a Democratic Party lawmaker who chairs the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, said the lineup of members for the commission and for the Broadcast Media Deliberation Committee had, for now, been completed. She said the deliberation committee was at a stage where the presidential office was conducting final vetting, and that members of the commission were to be approved at the Feb. 12 plenary session. She added that she was grateful to ruling and opposition lawmakers who cooperated.

On the same day, Democratic Party lawmaker Han Min-soo (한민수) said he had heard that the People Power Party’s supreme council had approved three nominees for the opposition’s share of commission seats the day before. He said it was late but he thought they were now taking the first step toward normalising the commission.

But People Power Party lawmaker Choi Hyung-doo (최형두), the party’s floor spokesperson on the committee, said it was not a matter for the supreme council to decide. He corrected the record, saying the Public Official Recommendation Committee was reviewing it and it was in the final stage. He added he expected approval at the Feb. 12 plenary session.

Choi Min-hee later corrected her remarks on her personal social media account, saying the People Power Party had not yet decided on the commission members and urging it to recommend them quickly.

Contrary to the original plan, the People Power Party boycotted the Feb. 12 plenary session in protest over the appellate petition law and a bill to increase the number of Supreme Court justices, both of which passed the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. That also prevented action on the motion to recommend commission members.

The Democratic Party asked National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik (우원식) to table at least the party’s nominees, but the request was not accepted, it was reported.

The commission is a seven-member consensus body, with three standing members and four non-standing members. The president recommends 2 and parliament recommends 5. Parliament’s share is 2 for the Democratic Party, with 1 standing and 1 non-standing member, and 3 for the People Power Party, with 1 standing and 2 non-standing members.

Only 2 presidential nominees have been appointed so far: Chairman Kim Jong-cheol (김종철) and Ryu Shin-hwan (류신환), a non-standing member. The Democratic Party recommended Ko Min-soo (고민수), a professor at Gangneung-Wonju National University, as a standing member and Yoon Sung-ok (윤성옥), a professor at Kyonggi University, as a non-standing member. The People Power Party has not yet completed its recommendations.

Under the law establishing the commission, deliberation and voting require at least 4 members to be present. The commission was launched in October last year but has not been able to hold a single meeting for four months.