South Korea's Broadcast Media Telecommunications Commission has decided not to appeal an appellate court ruling ordering it to revoke its cancellation of Unification TV's programme provider (PP) registration. Unification TV will regain its PP status.

The commission said on Wednesday it submitted to the Justice Ministry an opinion to forgo an appeal in a lawsuit filed by Unification TV seeking to overturn the registration cancellation.

On June 10, the Seoul High Court's Administrative Division 6-1 accepted Unification TV's arguments on appeal and revoked the registration cancellation.

The Ministry of Science and ICT in July 2022 approved the disclosure and use of special materials by Unification TV on the condition that it would not make public content that praises, encourages or propagandises anti-state organisations or propagandises or incites an insurrection.

The ministry later said Unification TV repeatedly violated a condition requiring it to use content from Korean Central Television for less than 50 percent of its total programming. It revoked the disclosure approval in February 2023. In January 2024, it cancelled Unification TV's PP registration after determining it fell under the Broadcasting Act provision covering cases where PP registration is obtained through false or other improper means.

Unification TV filed an administrative lawsuit in April that year seeking to overturn the cancellation. The trial court revoked the measure, saying it was difficult to conclude based solely on the circumstances and evidence presented by the government that Unification TV had registered through false or improper means.

The government appealed, but the appellate court also ruled for Unification TV. The commission said the appellate court found, as the first instance did, that it was difficult to recognise that the cancellation involved an improper method that, in light of social norms, influenced the authority's decision-making on issuing the registration certificate, and that the grounds for the measure did not exist, making it unlawful.

During the appeal, a government reorganisation transferred PP registration and cancellation duties from the Ministry of Science and ICT to the commission, and the defendant in the lawsuit was changed to the commission.

The commission said it respected the judiciary's decision and submitted to the Justice Ministry an opinion to forgo an appeal. The Justice Minister directed on July 1 that no appeal be filed. With the ruling finalised, Unification TV regained its status as a programme provider from July 2.

The commission said it was "very regretful" that a state institution that should guarantee freedom and diversity of broadcasting cancelled the PP registration through an unlawful method, shrinking freedom of broadcasting and the public's right to watch.

It added it would do its best to provide administrative support so Unification TV can fulfil its function as a programme provider, and that it would work to earn public trust as an administrative body that complies with constitutional values and laws while harmoniously realising freedom of broadcasting and the public interest.