The nation’s telecom regulator took punitive action against two cable channels, TV Chosun and Channel A, for their recent false reportage in connection with the May 18 Gwangju civil uprising, officials said Thursday.

The Korea Communications Commission held a general meeting and decided to issue a warning against the two broadcasters and punish officials at the companies involved in the reporting.

On May 13, TV Chosun broadcast a panel’s claims that about 600 North Korean soldiers infiltrated into the South and it was them, not civilians, who captured the South Jeolla provincial government during the 1980 uprising.

Channel A reported in its news program on May 15 that a North Korean defector confirmed that North Korea was involved in the May 18 incident.

(joowonc@heraldcorp.com)