Ko Kwang-heon (고광헌), nominee for chair of the Broadcast Media Communications Deliberation Committee, said he would revive the spirit of consensus and build a committee that prioritises communication.

Ko made the remarks on Tuesday at his confirmation hearing before the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee. He said he would build a deliberation body trusted by the public through reviews based on fair and transparent procedures.

Ko said sanctions issued under former Korea Communications Standards Commission chief Ryu Hee-rim resulted in 30 straight court defeats because agendas were selected arbitrarily and decisions were made by a minority. He said such an outcome would not have occurred if all 9 members had participated and gone through sufficient debate and deliberation. On about 270 million won in litigation costs paid from the committee's budget, Ko said he would consult with the Korea Communications Commission on reviewing whether to seek reimbursement from Ryu.

Ko said he would quickly address pressing tasks by reorganising the organisation to deal with about 170,000 pending telecommunications review cases accumulated since June 2025. They include 60,000 online gambling cases, 27,000 digital sex crime cases and 37,000 obscenity and prostitution-related cases that remain unprocessed. Rep. Lee Hye-min of the Rebuilding Korea Party suggested considering legal changes to allow members whose terms have expired to continue performing duties until successors are appointed.

In his opening statement, Ko presented operating principles that included restoring the spirit of consensus, revising review rules based on the principle of minimal regulation, respecting autonomy at content production sites, taking a zero-tolerance approach to digital sex crimes and illegal information, and balancing regulation between legacy media and new types of media.

The opposition parties, meanwhile, raised broad questions about Ko's suitability. They cited his past sharing of an SNS post that raised suspicions of election fraud involving former President Park Geun-hye and controversy over a parachute appointment in the process of selecting a president for Seoul Shinmun. They also said that according to confirmation hearing materials submitted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the National Police Agency, Ko received a total of 17 vehicle seizure orders since 1992 over unpaid fines and taxes, and was found to have received 6 traffic fine penalties over the past 10 years.