▲ Lee Eun-woo, former director of public broadcaster KTV, leaves the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul on June 26, 2026, after attending a trial on his charges of censoring content critical of former President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed martial law bid in 2024. (Yonhap)

ex-KTV chief-sentence

Former chief of KTV gets suspended prison term for pro-martial law broadcast censorship

SEOUL, June 26 (Yonhap) -- A court on Friday sentenced the former director of public broadcaster KTV to a suspended prison term of one year for censoring content that criticized former President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed 2024 martial law bid.

The Seoul Central District Court convicted Lee Eun-woo of ordering his staff to delete subtitles that carried political remarks criticizing the illegality and unconstitutionality of the martial law declaration.

"By actively ordering the removal of critical content, the defendant ultimately defended the legitimacy of the martial law," the court said, accusing Lee of failing to uphold KTV's duty to maintain fairness as a public broadcaster.

The court also dismissed Lee's claim that his actions merely aligned with KTV's role as a government promotional channel.

"Promoting government policies must be based on providing accurate facts," the court explained.

"It is highly questionable whether hiding the unconstitutionality, illegality and updates of the martial law can be called proper public relations."

Separately, Lee remains under investigation by special counsel Kwon Chang-young's team on suspicions of repeatedly broadcasting news that justified the insurrection while blocking and deleting coverage critical of the declaration.

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