Amid severe road gridlock and traffic controls caused by heavy snow on the 4th, Seoul Metropolitan Government Media Foundation TBS (hereafter TBS) failed to operate normally, sparking controversy.
On the 5th, the MBC radio current affairs program ‘News High Kick with Kwon Soon-pyo’ also reported on this in a segment delivered by announcer Kwon Min-jung titled ‘KRW 7.5 billion in Seoul operating support budget fails to be allocated···Amid the snowstorm chaos, TBS airs only music’.
This was because TBS FM at 95.1 MHz continued to air music programming while the heavy snow fell. According to TBS, because the allocation of the KRW 7.5 billion operating support budget failed and plans to normalize finances and content were canceled, special programming related to the snowstorm could not be expected.
As made clear in the TBS broadcast license, ‘overall broadcast matters focusing on traffic and weather’, TBS is a broadcaster specialized in disaster and emergency situations related to traffic and weather. Under the leadership of the People Power Party in the Seoul Metropolitan Council, abolition of the support ordinance was decided in 2022, and in 2024 TBS was released from the status of a Seoul Metropolitan Government funded institution. Since last September, the entire staff has endured in an emergency-broadcast mode without pay for more than a year, but carrying out the broadcaster ‘specialty’ of traffic and weather special programming has been difficult.
Acting CEO Joo Yong-jin said, “Watching reports of accidents and bottlenecks on paralyzed roads, I felt frustrated that we could not perform the duty assigned to TBS”, and again emphasized the importance of public broadcasting in traffic and weather disaster situations that cannot be replaced by navigation services.
He again mentioned the need for TBS as a “system that, as a broadcaster that puts citizen safety first, can immediately shift the entire schedule to a special-broadcast mode without being influenced by advertising or sponsorship”, and urged support from the central and local governments.
On the 5th, Prime Minister Kim Min-seok ordered an emergency response by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Korea Expressway Corporation, the National Police Agency, and local governments in response to the sudden heavy snowfall. He emphasized that winter snowstorms can have a significant impact on the lives of citizens and the overall functioning of the city. However, due to the lack of a budget, the role of TBS in comprehensively bringing together all information and delivering it to citizens is absent.
