Outspoken NHK boss Katsuto Momii makes power grab at Japan broadcaster
Katsuto Momii makes NHK executive directors write undated resignation letters
The controversial boss of NHK, who has defended Japan’s practice of wartime sex slavery, has launched a power grab at the public broadcaster, it emerged on Tuesday, forcing directors to submit undated resignations.
In a revelation that looked set to stir further controversy at the embattled broadcaster, executive directors of the company told lawmakers that Katsuto Momii had made them write letters of resignation.
This would allow Momii, the NHK chairman, effectively to fire them whenever he chose.
You were chosen by the former chairman. I will decide my own path
The directors – who have charge of the day-to-day running of the body, including editorial control – are selected by the chairman of the time with the consent of the government-appointed committee that dictates NHK’s management policy, a spokesman for the broadcaster said.
“They are also discharged by the chairman with the consent of the committee,” he said, without offering an explanation for Momii’s demand for their undated resignations.
“I don’t have the material to answer the question. I am not in the position to do so either,” he said.
It is the latest controversy to hit NHK, one of the world’s biggest broadcasters, and one that could further undermine its reputation for impartiality.
That was called into question at Momii’s first press conference as head of the corporation in which he said the national broadcaster should not contradict the government.