Lee Jun-ho, the leader of an anti-Kim Dae-jung group, said that KBS was abusing other media outlets merely because they conveyed the truth about the controversial exile Song Du-yul, and pointed out that KBS had broadcast a program that falsely embellished Song as a democratic leader. Lee called the program an inappropriate action for a broadcasting company run on government money.

The law should be amended so that people don't have to pay the KBS subscription fees with their power bills, giving citizens a choice to pay or not pay for KBS, he said.

The civic groups said that the "Roh Moo-hyun administration's extra-governmental groups" joined hands with KBS in inviting the controversial exile Song, using the national budget and disguising Song's true identity. They insisted that prosecutors lawfully and strictly punish those responsible.

Also at the rally was the German human rights activist Norbert Vollertsen. He said that manipulation and indoctrination are dominant forces in North Korea, and that watching KBS programs makes him feel he is back in Pyeongyang, where he lived for nearly two years.

He added that many broadcasting companies around the world had reported on the human rights problems in North Korea, but not KBS. From this point on, Vollertsen said, KBS should not stand for the "Korean Broadcasting Service," but for the "Kim Jong Il Broadcasting Service."

The controversial program that featured Song, "Talking About Korea - Political Exiles Return," was broadcast without a proper preliminary review, which is a mandatory procedure for all programs made, insiders said recently. Discussions taking place after the program included critical evaluations that the show was one-sided and misled viewers, but the producers insisted repeatedly that it was never a problem.

At a governmental inspection on Saturday, Ko Heung-kil, lawmaker of the Grand National Party, criticized the KBS production crew for concealing the problems and simply ignoring the issues that were brought up before and after the program was shown. (Hong Won-sang, wshong@chosun.com )