Ruling and opposition parties clash over YTN privatization... crippled amid controversy over 'Hani preferential meeting'

[Anchor]
The National Assembly's parliamentary inspection of the National Assembly and the National Defense Commission had a battle between the ruling and opposition parties over the privatization of YTN.

Choi Min-hee, chairman of the Democratic Party of Korea, met Hani, a member of the girl group New Jeans, and the Democratic Party's counterargument that it was not a preferential treatment collided with the public's claim that the standing committee was abandoned.

Reporter Park Kwang-ryul reports.

[Reporter]
The parliamentary audit of the Korea Communications Commission, which was organized under the opposition party's argument to deal with the privatization of YTN and TBS separately, aimed at the process of selling YTN.

Both KEPCO KDN and Horse Association, which were major shareholders, were negative about the sale of their shares, raising their voices to "twist the neck of major shareholders."

[Rep. Roh Jong-myeon / Democratic Party of Korea, National Assembly: Twist the arm and neck of the major shareholders and eventually sell them. It's not stolen. What is it? It is defined as the YTN extortion case of the Yoon Suk Yeol regime.]

On top of that, it was also problematic that the change of the largest shareholder was approved under the two-member system of the Korea Communications Commission, which countered that there were no defects.

The KCC emphasized that the decision to sell YTN was also made under the principle of asset efficiency in public institutions.

[Kim Tae-gyu / Acting Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission: There were 177 institutions, 519 assets, and 275 equity shares, and a lot of public institution innovation plans were being made.]

The ruling party has also taken cover.

He expressed concern that the government's influence could be reached when a public company owns a stake in a media company, highlighting the aspect that privatization is not necessarily a bad thing.

[Lee Sang-hwi / People's Power Member, National Assembly: (The reporting channel) has a huge influence. That's why this could lead to continued government ownership equity structures and increased misconceptions about the exercise of influence on them.... If you don't let go of it, you'll always have to face this problem.]

There was a high voice with the ruling and opposition parties' war of nerves over the level of opposition parties' remarks, such as "law loach" and "stealing" over the sale process.

In the midst of this, the controversy over the "New Jin's Hani Meeting" has spread, adding fuel to the dispute between the ruling and opposition parties.

Democratic Party Chairman Choi Min-hee met with Hani, a member of the girl group New Jin's, at the National Assembly, and the ruling party and opposition party, called the chairman's contempt, clashed head-on.

[Park Jung-hoon / People's Power Member, National Assembly: The chairman seems to be an illegitimate fan of Newzins (celebrity fan)]. Can I go meet you separately in the room with Newzins? At the time the committee is in progress....]

[Choi Min-hee / National Assembly Chief of Defense (Democratic Party of Korea): The New Jins incident is also related to the over-defense in charge of broadcasting. After the meeting could not be held due to the close of the parliamentary inspection, he returned to the chairman's office at around 1:57 p.m. to conduct an inspection of the over-defense.

Eventually, the ruling party lawmakers left collectively, causing disruptions.

[Choi Hyung-doo / Secretary of People's Power, National Assembly and Defense: Meeting separately is a completely different matter. With a minor issue, I blocked the right of lawmakers to speak on this issue altogether. It is unacceptable to take away the right to speak by holding only one side accountable.]

Amid the unexpected "New Jin's" controversy, the ruling and opposition parties are also predicting a fierce battle in the comprehensive audit scheduled for next week.

I'm Park Kwang Ryul of YTN.