Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan said he plans to appear on a home shopping channel late this month to promote the products of small- and medium-sized companies.

But his idea needs to go through some regulatory deliberation first, according to the nation’s broadcasting regulator.

Bahk wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday that he will appear on Home & Shopping, an exclusive channel for SMEs that opened in January, to help the sales of SME products on May 29. 

Bahk said he hopes to attract a cash mob, or a group of people who assemble at a certain shop and all buy its items with the purpose of supporting both the local businesses and the overall community. The show will also be broadcast through his social networking service accounts, he said.

According to rules set by the Korea Communications Standards Commission, however, public officials are not allowed to make appearances on home shopping channels.

“Civil servants are prohibited from appearing on home shopping channels, but there is an article that allows exceptions for cases serving public interests,” a KCSC official said.

“The KCSC will decide on whether the finance minister’s appearance would be an exception.”

An official at Home & Shopping said the company was seeking ways to put Bahk on the show without violating the rules. One of them is an interview format.

“Seems like it will be difficult for Minister Bahk to sell the products himself as he said,” the company official said. “But having him talk about the products in an interview format would work.”

It remains to be seen whether the KCSC will accept the plan as an exception.

Bahk is scheduled to appear on Home & Shopping between 10:20 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. on May 29 under the title “Cash Mob for SME Products Using Home Shopping and SNS.”

The minister also plans to promote the products through Facebook on the same day. He has some 6,100 Facebook friends.

Home & Shopping was jointly established by the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Businesses, the Industrial Bank of Korea, Small Business Distribution Center and the National Cooperative Federation. More than 90 percent of the products sold on the channel are made by SMEs.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)