Korea began television broadcasting on May 12, 1956, with the opening of HLKZ-TV, a commercially operated television station. During this time there were only 300 television sets in Korea but this number climbed to an estimated 6.27 million by 1980. On December 31, 1961 the first full-scale television station, KEWS-TV, was established and began it's operation under the Ministry of Culture and Public Information.
The 1980s were seen as the golden period for Korea's television industry. Programming hours increased as well as the number of television stations. In 1981, there was a technological breakthrough: the introduction of a color television. With the Broadcasting Law of 1987, the Korean Broadcasting Committee was established to oversee all broadcasting in the country. The most important part of this law was that it guaranteed freedom of broadcasting.
Another technological breakthrough took place in the beginning of the 1990s with the introduction of cable television. Korea also launched its first broadcasting/communication satellite, Mugungwha, in 1995.
Source: Museum TV