Go to contents

KBS airs drama when earthquake hit Gyeongju

Posted September. 14, 2016 07:01,   

Updated September. 14, 2016 07:18

한국어
State-owned network broadcaster KBS is being criticized for its alleged lack of playing the role as a national disaster broadcaster when the most powerful earthquake ever to hit the Korean Peninsula occurred in the southeastern city of Gyeongju on Monday evening.

When the nation was swept up in fear when a 5.8 magnitude earthquake hit the region at 8:21 p.m., followed by a 5.1 magnitude earthquake at 7:44 p.m., KBS 1TV was airing its regular program "Woorimal Battle" and drama "Weird Family." It aired a 4-minute breaking news in the middle with captions, but that was it.

TV viewers criticized this by saying "For 70 minutes before the news started at 9 p.m., KBS didn't do its disaster broadcasting role." In response, KBS said, "We placed a caption at 1TV three minutes after the earthquake was reported. The reason we continued with the drama was because it was difficult to prolong the special news due to limited verified information (on the earthquake)."

A total of 69 broadcasters including KBS are mandated to air disaster broadcasting starting from the level 3 disaster when requested by the Public Safety and Security Ministry and the Korea Meteorological Administration based on the broadcasting and telecommunications development law. The three stages are based on the 3.5 magnitude (inland area) and 4 magnitude (coastal areas). In 2011, KBS launched a disaster broadcasting information center saying it would issue prompt disaster reports by gathering disaster information from the Interior Ministry and the Korea Meteorological Administration. However, the center was useless at the latest earthquake.

By contrast, Japan's state-owned broadcaster NHK issued an alarm and caption reports 36 seconds after the massive earthquake hit East Japan in 2011. Within 1 minute and 30 seconds, it suspended regular program and shifted to special report mode. Also for the Kumamoto earthquake in April this year and a series of typhoons last month, NHK repeatedly issued guidance for several minutes through the anchor who said, "Please take caution as earthquake occurred at ○○." Also, it sends out information on the current disaster condition and guideline for evacuation by filling one third of the screen with graphics and captions.

"The only channel to receive information is through the broadcaster when telecommunications are cut off due to disaster," ruling Saenuri Party Rep. Kim Jae-kyung said. "This time, the disaster broadcasting failed to deliver information quickly. The system will have to be repaired so that KBS can remove bad name of 'faulty disaster broadcasting.'"



서형석기자 skytree08@donga.com · 정양환기자 ray@donga.com