The decree is the result of a litigation process initiated by a disgruntled shop proprietor in Kangneung province after failing to obtain an approval certification from the KARB necessary to air an infomercial on cable television.
The case was subsequently taken up by the Korean Advertisers’ Association (KAA), which argued that the review board’s pre-censorship requirements were overly restrictive.
With official pre-censorship abolished, the new system will see broadcasting stations review advertising individually according to self-established guidelines, which an industry source explained would "essentially follow the past censorship regulations but with more leniency."
But Steve Yi, Grey Korea’s strategic planning director, explained that Kobaco, the government agency that sets advertising rates and acts as exclusive sales agent for all the commercial networks, reserved the right to remove an ad in the event of serious consumer complaints relating to its content.
"Technically you can air anything, but you are limited by what might happen if you air something controversial," he said.
