▲국경없는기자회 홈페이지에 실린 KBS·MBC 파업관련 보도.

국경없는기자회(RSF)는 31일 “KBS와 MBC 구성원들이 10년 전부터 시작된 공영방송에 대한 정치적 탄압에 대항하기 위해 9월4일부터 파업에 돌입했다”며 “방송통신위원회는 고대영 KBS 사장과 김장겸 MBC 사장을 조속히 교체해 교착 상태를 끝내야 한다”고 밝혔다.

RSF는 이어 “방통위는 기자들의 편집권 독립 요구를 충족시킬 것을 촉구한다”며 “언론인들이 완전한 편집권 독립을 향유할 수 있도록 관련법안 개정을 한국 당국에 요구한다”고 덧붙였다.

앞서 지난 13일 세계 최대 언론단체인 국제기자연맹(IFJ)은 “한국의 공영방송을 수호하기 위해 싸우는 한국의 동료들과 함께 연대한다”는 성명을 발표한 바 있다.

다음은 성명 전문이다.

https://rsf.org/en/news/south-korea-rsf-backs-striking-journalists

South Korea: RSF backs striking journalists

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) to satisfy journalists at two public broadcasters who have been on strike for the past two months to press their demands for editorial independence.

More than 3,000 journalists and other employees at Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) and Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) have been striking since 4 September in response to a call from the National Union of Media Workers (NUMW) backed by the Journalists' Association of Korea (JAK).

As in previous strikes in 2010, 2012 and 2016, the journalists are protesting against political pressure on the public media, which began a decade ago. Their demands included the removal of the heads of KBS and MBS, who are seen as having been imposed by the previous government.

They are also demanding the reinstatement of many colleagues who were unjustly fired in the past.

End the stalemate

RSF urges the KCC, whose powers include appointing the members of the governing boards of the public media, to end the stalemate by quickly replacing the two disputed presidents, Koh Dae-Young at KBS and Kim Jang-Kyum at MBC.

RSF also calls on the South Korean authorities to overhaul the regulations that govern the public media so that their journalists can henceforth enjoy complete editorial independence.

South Korea appears to be emerging from a dark decade for media freedom, in which it fell from 31st position in RSF’s Press Freedom Index in 2006 to 63rd in 2017.

Hopes of improvement have been raised by human right lawyer Moon Jae-in’s election as president in May. When an RSF delegation visited in July, President Moon’s transition team undertook to ensure that South Korea is back at 30th place in the index by the end of his term.