President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday signed off on a proposal to dismiss the chief of the broadcasting watchdog accused of involvement in score manipulation against a right-wing cable channel in the process of renewing its broadcasting license in 2020, the presidential office said.

Han Sang-hyuk, chairman of the state Korea Communications Commission (KCC), was indicted earlier this month on charges of prodding senior KCC officials to give low scores to TV Chosun during its license renewal evaluation process.

Han, who was appointed during the previous Moon Jae-in administration, also allegedly arranged the appointment of a civic activist critical of TV Chosun to the commission's judging panel in charge of relicensing reviews.

The Ministry of Personnel Management sent a report with its opinion of Han to the presidential office last week, and Yoon signed off on his dismissal Tuesday, the presidential office said.

Han's term was set to end at the end of July. (Yonhap)