Media mogul Rupert Murdoch's bid to make inroads into South Korea's emerging satellite broadcast market has drawn protests from a movement which vows to zealously guard the country's closed market.
Murdoch's media group News Corp. held an upbeat ceremony here last week to unveil its consortium with ten South Korean partners.
The consortium, Korea Satellite Broadcasting Co. (KSB), hopes to start operating next year if it wins over a rival domestic consortium in the bid for a business license.
A state committee will select the sole provider of satellite broadcasting services at the end of the year. Foreigners will be allowed to own up to 33 percent of the business.
News Corp. seemed confident of success, unveiling a plan to sink 22.5 billion dollars into KSB through its Asian service Star-TV.
But the plan immediately sparked a wave of protest from civic groups, nationalist scholars and media unions.
"We welcome foreign capital into our country but not from Murdoch. We worry he may spoil our culture with … commercialism," said Kim Ju-Eun, who heads the People's Coalition for Media Reform.
"We also suspect Murdoch's investment here is aimed at securing a bridgehead for his attempt to move into China."
The coalition, made up of 50 separate groups, threatened to launch an indefinite campaign against News Corp.
Murdoch, born in Australia, was blamed for, or credited with, destroying the power of British print unions when he switched his papers from Fleet Street to Wapping in the early 1980s.
In doing what no other media proprietor had the courage to do, he is credited with changing work practices and making British newspapers economically viable.
But critics in Seoul are sceptical, citing Murdoch's war with British Satellite Broadcasting and protests in India against some of the content on Star TV.
"Murdoch cannot avoid charges that he used his empire to strengthen his political influence in some countries," said Chung Byong-Jun of the Korea Federation of Press Unions.
"We remember what he did in Britain," he said, referring to Murdoch's purchase of the 200-year-old Times newspaper and his support for former prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
For Murdoch, South Korea's draw is that it has good media infrastructure that could attract millions of subscribers.
Critics fear such an eventuality, as the domestic industry is still too weak to compete against powerful foreign firms.
Some scholars and government officials, however, are neutral, saying South Korea could control the media mogul by maintaining an effective monitoring apparatus.
"We have nothing to be afraid of in Murdoch's entry," said Chung Yong-Jun, a Chunbuk University professor.
Culture ministry official Yoon Sung-Chun said: "The business requires hefty capital investment. So we hope domestic and foreign firms form a consortium.
"We understand there is a negative perception here on Murdoch. But our culture market is so restricted that there will be little room for him to play here."
