Civic groups file complaint against new broadcast watchdog chief over corporate card misuse

Civic groups filed a complaint Wednesday against newly appointed broadcast watchdog chief Lee Jin-sook over her alleged misuse of corporate credit cards in the past. The National Union of Media Workers and two other civic groups said they filed the complaint with the prosecution against Lee, chairperson of the Korea Communications Commission, on charge of occupational embezzlement. They claimed that Lee, a former journalist at the public television network MBC, used corporate credit cards for personal purposes on many occasions while serving as president of MBC's branch in the central city of Daejeon from 2015-2018. Lee spent around 140 million won (US$101,631) with those cards, and her spending includes luxury hotels, expensive restaurants, golf courses and places near her home on holidays and during weekends, they claimed. The civic groups also alleged that Lee used a corporate card even after resigning from her post as president and bought nearly 15 million won worth of wine with the card. Lee claime d that she had used the corporate cards in accordance with internal guidelines. Source: Yonhap News Agency