The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS; ) is the national broadcaster of South Korea. Founded in 1927, it is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters under the government of South Korea.
The KBS operates seven radio networks, ten television channels and multiple Internet-exclusive services. Its flagship terrestrial television station, KBS1, broadcasts on channel 9 while KBS2, an entertainment-oriented network, broadcasts on channel 7. KBS also operates the international service KBS World, which provides television, radio and online services in 12 languages.
History Early radio broadcasts
The KBS began as Gyeongseong Broadcasting Station () with call sign JODK, established by the Governor-General of Korea on 16 February 1927. It became the in 1932. After Korea was liberated from Japanese rule at the end of World War II, this station started using the call sign HLKA in 1947 after the US-occupied Korea was granted the ITU prefix HL. After a national broadcast, the station was renamed Seoul Central Broadcasting Station in 1948.
1950s–1960s – Television Television broadcasts in South Korea began on 12 May 1956 on HLKZ-TV. After financial difficulties, it was acquired by KBS in 1961.
1970s – Expansion KBS changed its focus from being a state-controlled media and adopted the concept of being a public-oriented broadcaster on 3 March 1973. of KBS headquarters in Yeouido started in 1976. In 1979 KBS radio began broadcasting on the FM band with the launch of KBS Stereo (now KBS 1FM). Colour television began that year.
1980s – Advertising KBS began broadcasting advertising in 1980, differing from the norm of public broadcasters, after the forced merger of several private broadcasters into KBS by the military government of Chun Doo-hwan. It also bought 65% of the shares of the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation and the Kyunghyang Shinmun.
During the rule of Chun Doo-hwan, a new law in 1980 forced public broadcasters to merge with KBS. These broadcasters had shown news stories against Chun, leading him to stifle their criticism. These included: Tongyang Broadcasting Corporation (TBC) Dong-A Broadcasting System (DBS) Seohae Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) Jeonil Broadcasting Corporation (VOC) Hanguk-FM (BBC) Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) was also affected. MBC was, at first, a federation of 20 loosely affiliated member stations across South Korea. Although they shared programming, each station was privately owned (similar to the UK ITV network before the passing of the Broadcasting Act 1990). After the consolidation, however, affiliates were forced to give up a majority of shares to MBC Seoul. MBC Seoul, in turn, was forced to give up 65% of its shares to KBS. In 2009, president Lee Myung-bak said that the law was unconstitutional, and in 2011 TBC and DBS were revived as JTBC and Channel A, respectively.
1990s – Spinoff of EBS
In 1981, KBS launched KBS 3TV and Educational FM and on 27 December 1990, both were officially separated from KBS to form the Educational Broadcasting System (EBS).
After a revision of the television licensing fee system in 1994, 1TV and Radio1 stopped broadcasting commercials altogether.
2000s KBS 2FM from 1980 until 2002 was prohibited to air commercial advertisements. In 2002 ads resumed airing.
2010s After first broadcasting HD programmes in 2001, KBS completely switched to digital broadcasting in 2012.
On 16 January 2012, a dispute broke out between KBS and the Korea Cable TV Association (KCTA) over carriage fees. KCTA sought to reduce fees from major national networks for carrying their feeds through subscription providers. KBS had demanded 280 won per subscriber, while the TV providers offered only 100 won per subscription. Negotiations reached a standstill, and so the providers decided to stop carrying KBS2. KBS2 experienced major decline in their ratings, affecting shows such as Brain at the time. Following the blackout, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) ordered the TV providers to resume distributing the channel or face a hefty fine. They initially refused, but on 17 January, they agreed to resume the channel's carriage.
In 2011, Sohn Hak-kyu, the chairman of the Democratic Party, accused KBS of wiretapping the party's closed-door meeting on TV subscription charges.
Journalists working for KBS (along with MBC, SBS and YTN) protested against journalism practices that favored the Lee Myung-bak government in 2012. The union for KBS released a video clip "Reset KBS News 9" (리셋 KBS 뉴스9) on the internet that discussed the Prime Minister's Office Civilian Surveillance Incident and the controversial money-spending on renovating President Lee's alleged birth house on 13 March 2012.
On 3 March 2013, computer shutdowns hit South Korean television stations including KBS.Choe Sang-Hun, "Computer Networks in South Korea Are Paralyzed in Cyberattacks" , The New York Times, 20 March 2013. The South Korean government asserted a North Korean link in the March cyberattacks, denied by Pyongyang.
In 2013, KBS World Radio commemorated its 60th anniversary, and KBS World TV celebrated 10 years of its foundation.
In 2014, KBS World 24 was launched, mainly for Koreans abroad.
In 2015, KBS was honoured to have its archives of the KBS Special Live Broadcast, Finding Dispersed Families, inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. This makes KBS only the world's second broadcaster to have a broadcast programme on the prestigious list.
The KBS network delivered the exclusive Special Live Broadcast, Finding Dispersed Families, via its primary channel, KBS1. KBS News was the program's producer. The program premiered on 10:15 pm KST on 30 June 1983. After more than 6 months, the special live programme ended at 4 am on 14 November 1983. This marks a total duration of 453 hours and 45 minutes of live broadcast over 138 days, aired nationwide on KBS1. The KBS's archives of Special Live Broadcast, Finding Dispersed Families include; 463 videotapes of the original recordings, and many associated materials, generated in the course of the broadcast, such as the posters carrying the participating dispersed family members' capsule stories, cue sheets, programming schedules, radio recording materials, and related photographs. A total of 20,522 such assorted materials are preserved in the archives. The program was the biggest public affairs program ever produced by KBS and was the first to tackle the issue of families separated because of the long Korean War (1950–1953), which garnered even international coverage.
In 2017, KBS launched the world's first terrestrial UHD broadcasting service.
In June 2018, KBS led the operation of the IBC (International Broadcasting Centre) inside the KINTEX (Korea International Exhibition Center), located in Goyang, as Host Broadcaster for the April 2018 inter-Korean summit. During the summit, KBS successfully delivered all the moments associated with the historic summit for more than 3,000 local and overseas media representatives, gathered at the IBC. Throughout the day of the summit, KBS delivered live coverage through its continuous special news bulletins. Its prime-time news programmes, KBS News 9 and KBS Newsline provided audiences with highlights and implications of the historic summit through comprehensive reports. Also, KBS World TV delivered Live Coverage of April 2018 Inter-Korean summit with English subtitles for its audiences across 117 countries worldwide.
In May 2019, as the public service broadcaster in South Korea, KBS undertook a major reform in its Disaster Broadcast System in order to provide emergency services in times of emergency. To be headed by President and CEO of KBS, the renewed system allowed the use of maximum resources of the organization under emergency circumstances. Under the reform, KBS focused on: swift and efficient emergency broadcast and coverage; delivering essential information in innovative ways with the ultimate aim to minimise losses and damage; and strengthening its digital platforms to better serve wide-ranging audience groups. In particular, KBS signed contracts with sign language interpreters in an effort to enhance broadcast services for audiences with disabilities. In addition, KBS is committed to improve its English subtitle services for people from overseas.
Structure
KBS is an independently managed public corporation () funded by the South Korean government and license fees. As part of the Constitution, the KBS president is chosen by the President of South Korea, as recommended by its board of directors. Political parties in South Korea have the right to name members of the KBS board of directors.
This system gives politicians effective control over choosing the president of KBS, as well as its board of directors. People who are critical of the system cite political intervention in KBS's governance as reason for revising the current system of recruiting.
In order to uphold and defend independence, KBS, since 2018, created a 'Public Advisory Group', as part of the selection process of new KBS President and CEO. Each President and CEO of KBS is recommended by the KBS Board of Governors. The Group examines Presidential candidates via a presentation, a panel discussion, and an interview. Each is ultimately appointed by the President.
Around 49% of KBS's revenue comes from a mandatory television licence fee of 2,500 won, on top of 18.7% from commercial advertisement sales.
In addition to 18 regional stations and 12 overseas branches, eight subsidiary companies such as KBSN, KBS Business and KBS Media manage KBS content.
CEOs Generation Name Start Retirement Note 1 Hong Kyung-mo February 1973 February 1979 rowspan="14" 2 3 February 1979 July 1980 4 Lee Won-hong July 1980 February 1985 5 6 Park Hyun-tae February 1985 August 1986 7 Jung Koo-ho August 1986 November 1988 8 November 1988 March 1990 9 April 1990 March 1993 10 March 1993 April 1998 11 12 20 April 1998 10 March 2003 13 14 Seo Dong-koo 22 March 2003 2 April 2003 15 28 April 2003 11 August 2008 Dismissed 16 17 18 28 August 2008 23 November 2009rowspan="2" 19 24 November 2009 23 November 2012 20 23 November 2012 10 June 2014 Dismissed after strike 21 28 July 2014 23 November 2015 22 24 November 2015 23 January 2018 Dismissed after strike 23 Yang Seung-dong 9 April 2018 23 November 2018rowspan="2" 24 24 November 2018 9 December 2021 25 10 December 2021 12 September 2023 Dismissed 26 12 November 2023 9 December 2024 27 10 December 2024 present
Channels
Terrestrial television +NameLogoDescriptionKBS1The flagship channel of KBS. It broadcasts news and current affairs, education, drama, sports, children's programming and culture. It launched in 1961 as HLKA-TV and is solely funded by the license fee, airing commercial-free. It is available nationally on channel 9, broadcasting via digital terrestrial television. KBS1 also airs public information films and minor entertainment programming.KBS2The entertainment channel of KBS. It was launched in 1980 as a replacement for the Tongyang Broadcasting Company, which was forced by the government to merge into KBS. KBS2 is available on digital channel 7 via digital terrestrial television. KBS2 also airs live sports coverage, children's programming, public information films and limited amounts of news, current affairs and drama programming.KBS News 24The news channel of KBS. It was launched in 2010 as a webcast channel. It was available on digital channel 7 via digital terrestrial television from 2021 to 2023, returning to be a FAST channel after July 2023.KBS UHDThe Ultra High-Definition channel, using the ATSC 3.0 format. The channel airs music videos, plus re-runs of TV series and various programming.