A former president of public broadcaster MBC appeared before prosecutors Monday for questioning about allegations he unfairly treated members of the labor union, such as transferring them to irrelevant duties.

Kim Jang-kyom is one of the former MBC executives that the labor ministry referred to the prosecution for an investigation over allegations that they engage in illegal labor practices, such as carrying out personnel shakeups based on employees' political orientations.

Union members have claimed that the former executives took those steps in line with the former conservative governments led by then-Presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak to help them exert influence on media coverage by removing those considered liberal from their posts.