Court upholds former KTV chief's suspended prison term over martial law censorship - Yonhap News Agency

SEOUL, Sept. 30 (Yonhap) -- A court of appeals on Wednesday upheld a lower court's suspended prison sentence for Lee Eun-woo, former head of public broadcaster KTV, who was indicted for ordering the deletion of broadcast captions critical of former President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law imposition in 2024.

The Seoul High Court sentenced Lee to one year in prison, suspended for two years, on charges of abuse of authority and interference with the exercise of rights, upholding the Seoul Central District Court's ruling in June.

Lee was accused of ordering the removal of broadcast captions featuring politicians' remarks that described Yoon's martial law declaration as unconstitutional and illegal.

KTV is run by the Korea Policy Broadcasting Service, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The appellate court agreed with the lower court's finding that Lee's order to delete broadcast content violated broadcasting principles of fairness and balance, and infringed on the public's right to know.