| The entrance to Seoul Administrative Court in southern Seoul. Korea Times photo by Hong In-ki |
By Lee Yeon-woo
A court has ruled that the Korea Communications Commission's (KCC) restriction on a Christian broadcasting company ― which aired anti-gay remarks ― violated the principle of religious freedom.
According to legal circles, Monday, the Seoul Administrative Court issued a ruling recently in favor of the Christian Television System (CTS) in a lawsuit the channel had filed to annul the KCC's restriction on its programming.
CTS is a Christian broadcasting company founded in 1954 in Seoul that aims to spread information on Christianity and deliver sermons.
The religious broadcasting company aired a three-episode program starting in July 2020 spreading negative opinions of sexual minorities and the anti-discrimination law which has been pending at the National Assembly.
In the episodes, panelists ― including pastors and pro-Christian lawyers ― made remarks such as "homosexuality is unethical," "impressionable teenagers have no choice but to be sexually corrupt due to (the anti-discrimination law)" and "enforcing education in favor of homosexuality will create more gays and transgender people."
Some even said perpetrators of sexual assaults in the military cannot be punished if they claim to be gay.
In response, the KCC issued a disciplinary warning to CTS in November 2020, saying the program was biased in its selection of panelists to discuss a social issue that has sharp differences of opinion, and aired their opinions as if they were fact.
CTS filed an administrative complaint against the commission's measure.
The court sided with CTS, saying the KCC did not take the channel's religious nature into account.
"The channel is operated with aims to educate Christian doctrine and to do missionary work … Its financial sources are offerings and donations from religious bodies, churches and believers. Since the importance of government subsidies is noticeably low (in the channel), it is hard to ask the channel to consider public interest on the same plane as public broadcasting," the court said.
"The program gave its argument about the anti-discrimination law's legal and social problems on a religious channel, based on a certain religion's position of banning homosexuality … It falls under the protection of freedom of religion."
The court considered that the channel intended to warn Christians even though it aired some "exaggerated" and "inappropriate" claims in the program.
The court also said the KCC should have considered the danger of violating freedom of religion and the press before giving a disciplinary warning to CTS. It subsequently canceled the KCC's measure.
The KCC appealed the decision.