The Korea Broadcast Media and Communications Review Committee has spelled out its fast-track review procedures and deleted provisions related to the chair’s authority to maintain meeting order, in a move it said aims to prevent a recurrence of controversies over “targeted reviews” and so-called “gagging” that arose under the former Broadcasting and Communications Standards Commission.

Bamisimwi said on Sept. 2 it enacted and put into effect the “Bamisimwi Basic Rules” and the “Rules on the Composition and Operation of Subcommittees,” among others, on Aug. 31.

Under the new rules, a fast-track review can proceed only if a subcommittee member proposes it and a majority of the attending members agree. Whether to use the fast-track process must also be decided at an open meeting.

Under the former commission, details such as who proposed and agreed to a fast-track review and the reasons for the proposal were not disclosed, prompting criticism that the process amounted to targeted reviews aimed at specific agenda items.

If vacancies on a subcommittee leave fewer than 5 members in office, stricter quorum requirements apply. The quorum to open a meeting is raised from a majority of members in office to two-thirds, and the voting threshold is strengthened from a majority of those present to unanimous consent.

It also changed the wording in the existing rules from “a subcommittee composed of fewer than 5 members” to “a subcommittee with fewer than 5 members in office,” to reduce disputes over how quorum rules are interpreted.

Rules governing meeting operations were also revised. The committee deleted a provision in the former basic rules that gave the chair authority to “maintain meeting order,” to guarantee free debate among members.

It added a proviso to a rule that automatically ends meetings if they do not finish by midnight, so that agenda items not handled are automatically placed on the agenda for the next meeting. It also formalised that the order of business can be changed immediately after the meeting opens with consent from a majority of attending members.

Go Gwang-heon (고광헌), chair of Bamisimwi, said, “As promised when I took office, we are working to correct distorted systems and procedures from the past and to restore public trust in the committee’s deliberations.” He added, “Through transparent and democratic committee management, we will produce rational deliberation results consistent with social common sense.”