▲ President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on Feb. 24, 2026. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

Lee-Cabinet meeting

Lee underscores need for broader public access to global sports events

By Kim Eun-jung

SEOUL, Feb. 24 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Jae Myung said Tuesday the public needs broader access to global sporting events through improvements to the current broadcast system, amid controversy over limited national coverage of this year's Winter Olympics.

Lee thanked the Korean athletes and staff who participated in the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, but expressed regret that public enthusiasm did not match the levels seen during previous global sporting events.

"Despite the determination and excellent performances of Korean athletes, there was a lack of strong public excitement compared with past international events," Lee said at a Cabinet meeting.

"With the World Cup set to be held in North America in June, the systems need to be improved to more broadly guarantee public access to international events," he added.

Lee did not specifically cite reasons, but his remarks were widely seen as referring to controversy surrounding Korean cable channel JTBC's exclusive broadcasting of this year's Winter Games.

Civic groups criticized the limited national coverage after JTBC aired the event exclusively, following the breakdown of negotiations to resell its broadcast rights to the three local terrestrial broadcasters.

Lee's remarks were seen as a call for improvements ahead of the upcoming World Cup, for which JTBC also holds exclusive broadcast rights. The cable channel holds the rights to four Summer and Winter Olympic Games from 2026 to 2032 under a deal with the International Olympic Committee.

During the meeting, Lee also called for efforts to improve tourism infrastructure to attract more foreign visitors across the country, noting that about 80 percent of inbound travelers currently concentrate in Seoul.

"I want you to mobilize policy measures to develop region-tailored tourism programs and address chronic inconveniences ranging from transportation and accommodation to shopping and payments," he said. "Outdated practices, such as excessive customer touting or unreasonably high prices, should also be eradicated."

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