MBC program to investigate media acquisitions and military bidding irregularities

The broadcast program Investigative Report Straight will air on October 25 to examine how corporations influence media after acquisitions and how unqualified companies, such as a banner manufacturer, have won military supply contracts through KONEPS over the past five years.

The broadcast program Investigative Report Straight will air at 8:30 p.m. on October 25, covering how corporations have utilized broadcasting and newspapers after acquiring media outlets, and how unqualified companies manage to win contracts in military supply bidding. In the media acquisition segment, the program will examine the case of the Daou Technology Group consortium, which was selected as the preferred bidder for JoongAng Ilbo on the 20th, and SG Construction, the major shareholder of the private broadcaster G1 in Gangwon Province. The military supply segment will track military supply bidding conducted over the past five years through KONEPS, the online bidding system operated by the Public Procurement Service, and the subsequent controversies regarding product defects.

Companies Entering the JoongAng Ilbo Acquisition Race

On the 20th, the Daou Technology Group consortium was selected as the preferred bidder for the acquisition of JoongAng Ilbo. Following the participation of the IT solutions company Daou Technology Inc., CJ and Shinsegae, both ranked within the top 20 in the business world, drew attention by joining the consortium at the last minute. Investigative Report Straight stated it will investigate the reasons why these companies are stepping forward to acquire JoongAng Ilbo, a newspaper facing a declining industry and carrying massive debt. However, the broadcast preview did not present the specific acquisition purposes or negotiation terms of the participating companies.

The broadcast will cover not only the JoongAng Ilbo acquisition race but also how companies have used newspapers and broadcasters after owning them, using cases from the past 10 years. The preview materials indicated that the investigation will look into what happened after private companies, such as construction firms, acquired media outlets, and will also cover methods to control attempts by owners to privatize the media. The selection of the preferred bidder for JoongAng Ilbo is one of the major cases included in the report. By introducing the composition and selection timing of the consortium, the debt held by JoongAng Ilbo, and the state of the newspaper industry, the program will pose questions regarding the objectives of the participating companies.

Major Shareholder's Family Appears in G1 News

SG Construction is the major shareholder of G1, a terrestrial private broadcaster with a service area covering the entire Gangwon Province. The preview materials described SG Construction as a small and medium-sized construction company ranked 218th in construction capacity. SG Construction acquired G1 in 2017. Investigative Report Straight has investigated instances where reports related to the major shareholder's family appeared on G1 News following the acquisition. According to the materials, a son, a son-in-law, and a teenage grandson appeared on G1's main news. The specific number of reports or dates regarding how and in what manner they appeared were not included in the preview.

The program stated it has also captured circumstances where G1 employees were mobilized for the businesses of the major shareholder's family. This, along with the instances of family members appearing on G1 News, is part of the coverage regarding the relationship between a broadcaster and the major shareholder's businesses. The preview did not disclose the names of the businesses where employees were allegedly mobilized, nor the number of participants or the nature of their work. Investigative Report Straight announced it will focus its reporting on what occurs after a company acquires a broadcaster through the G1 case. The facts presented by the broadcast include the timing of SG Construction's acquisition of G1, the major shareholder's construction ranking, the scope of the family appearing in the news, and the circumstances of employees being mobilized for the major shareholder's family businesses.

Unrelated Companies Winning Bids on KONEPS

KONEPS is an online bidding system operated by the Public Procurement Service to procure goods, facilities, and services required in the public sector. In 2020, as the procurement of general military supplies, excluding weapons, was transferred from the Defense Acquisition Program Administration to the Public Procurement Service, contractors began being determined through KONEPS bidding. Investigative Report Straight stated that an analysis of military supply bidding on KONEPS over the past five years confirmed cases where companies unrelated to military supplies won contracts. The investigation looked at which companies won bids for military supplies involving large contract scales and required specialized technology.

The cases provided in the preview include instances where the business fields of the items and the winning companies were different. A buoyancy regulator ordered by the Republic of Korea Marine Corps was won by a vocational training institute, and an automatic oxygen resuscitator to be used by the Republic of Korea Army was contracted to a banner manufacturing company. Dental equipment was won by a construction machinery company. Investigative Report Straight stated it will investigate how companies unrelated to military supplies were able to participate in bidding and secure contracts. The specific contract amounts, winning dates, or company names were not provided in the materials. Through these cases, the broadcast will cover the participation and winning processes of military supply bidding and the contractor selection procedures.

Defect Reports and Bidding Sanctions Following Delivery

Controversies regarding poor quality followed the delivery of military supplies. Investigative Report Straight reported that defect reports have been made repeatedly for items such as life jackets, which are vital to the lives of military personnel, as well as water bottles and container bags. The preview materials did not disclose the types of defects for individual products, the number of reports, or the scale of damage. However, by introducing both the cases of unrelated companies winning contracts and the defect reports for delivered products, the program has made the reality of the process from bidding to delivery a subject of investigation.

The report also included information that not an insignificant number of companies, even after being sanctioned in bidding for supplying defective products or failing to properly fulfill contracts, went on to win military supply contracts again. Investigative Report Straight announced it will report on the reality and irregularities where military supply bidding is called a "lotto" because winning a bid can lead to large sums of money. The preview did not disclose individual company names, sanction periods, or the scale of re-contracts.

In its October 25 broadcast, Investigative Report Straight will cover both the cases following corporate media acquisitions and the cases of military supply bidding and delivery on KONEPS. The program intends to report on the issues of media ownership and the influence of owners, as well as the management of military supply winning and delivery.

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