South Korea's Broadcast Media Communications Commission approved licence renewals for 13 terrestrial and community radio stations run by 11 broadcasters including KBS, MBC and OBS.

The commission held its 29th plenary meeting on Aug. 21 to deliberate and vote on whether to renew licences for 13 stations operated by 11 broadcasters whose licence terms expired in December last year and in March and June this year.

In the evaluation, 8 stations run by 6 companies, including KBS Jeonju and Cheongju First UHDTV stations and Paldal and Seodaemun FM community radio, scored at least 700 points out of 700 and were renewed for 5 years. Five stations run by 5 companies, including Busan, Jeju and Chuncheon MBC terrestrial DMB stations, OBS Gyeongin FM and Namhae FM community radio, scored 650 to under 700 points and were given 4-year terms.

The relicensing review was conducted through an evaluation committee of 9 experts in broadcasting and media, law, management and accounting, technology and viewers. The commission decided whether to renew licences after a comprehensive review of the evaluation results, the results of hearing viewer opinions and views from related agencies.

Reflecting the intent of the revised Broadcasting Act, the commission also imposed conditions on each operator to strengthen public responsibility, including the composition and operation of programming and viewer committees, plans to secure financial soundness, and the production and scheduling of public-interest programmes. For KBS, it set out requirements including the composition and operation of the programming committee and the viewer committee. For OBS, it set conditions including drawing up plans for funding and operations for 2027 to 2029 and plans to expand public-interest programmes.

Commission Chairman Kim Jong-cheol (김종철) said, "As broadcasters must carry out public responsibilities and public-interest roles based on the trust of the people, we will continue to check whether broadcasters faithfully implement relicensing conditions and strengthen management and supervision."