The Role of the State in the Regulation of Television Broadcasting in South Korea

Abstract

Television broadcasting in South Korea is experiencing a major change in its regulatory structure under the new government led by Kim Dae-Jung, who won the 1997 election as an opposition candidate for the first time in Korean history. Based on the review of the regulatory history of television broadcasting and its recent development in South Korea, this paper provides an overall background which explains the way in which the state has shaped and developed the regulatory structure of television broadcasting in Korea. It argues that the policies set in law and regulatory practice exercised by the state bureaucracy have not always been consistent or completely compatible. It concludes that this has been mainly because the government has been the sole player in establishing, framing and devising television broadcasting regulations.