The Seoul City Council, which is governed by members of the ruling People Power Party(PPP), has passed an ordinance enforcing the suspension of its hefty financing of city-funded broadcaster TBS over its allegedly left-leaning political stance. 

The ordinance unanimously proposed by 76 PPP-affiliated council members passed during the council’s plenary session on Tuesday, with 72 out of the 73 council members in attendance voting in favor and the other abstaining. All council members belonging to the main opposition Democratic Party(DP) boycotted the vote in protest of the ordinance. 

The ordinance is aimed at scrapping another city ordinance which provides a basis for the yearly financing for TBS. The municipal funding, earmarked at 32 billion won for this year, accounts for 70 percent of the broadcaster’s annual budget. The ordinance will take effect in 2024 following a grace period. 

The PPP has pushed for the move, arguing that the morning program, “News Factory,” hosted by firebrand journalist Kim Ou-joon, as well as many other TBS programs are politically biased and have lost their sense of fairness. The DP and the broadcaster have opposed the move, arguing that it would infringe upon the freedom of the press and the rights to survival by its members.