[Asia Economy Reporter Jumi Lee] The weather YouTube channel operated by MBC has become embroiled in an unexpected controversy over political bias. The channel titled a weather segment "Upset but Okay," which sparked suspicions that it was consoling the Democratic Party of Korea after their crushing defeat in the April 7 by-elections. The weathercaster who delivered the forecast at the time hinted at legal action.
On the 8th, weathercaster Park Hamyeong explained the background of using the phrase "Upset but Okay" in an apology posted on her social media (SNS). She stated that there was a mistake during the weather broadcast and that the phrase was merely an expression of her own feelings about that mistake.
In her SNS post, Park began by saying, "This morning, during the MBC News Today Part 1 weather segment, I forgot the prepared script and stumbled, making a mistake." She continued, "It was the biggest live broadcast mistake since I started broadcasting, and feeling upset, I wrote the thumbnail title as 'Upset but Okay, #It'sSpring.' I deeply apologize for not considering the timing and for expressing my emotions in the title, which could have been misunderstood as having political connotations regardless of my intention."
She added, "However, I reiterate that this was not an expression of any political views or opinions," and warned, "I will take strong legal action against any posts containing false information, defamation, abusive language, or comments unrelated to the above incident."
Earlier that morning, MBC's YouTube weather variety channel "Oneul Biwa?" posted a morning commute weather video titled "Upset but Okay... #It'sSpring."
Given that the results of the Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections were announced the previous day (the 7th), the title "Upset" drew criticism for allegedly revealing political bias.
Netizens commented, "What exactly is upset about?" and "Even weather forecasts can show political bias," among other criticisms.
As the controversy grew, the channel operator changed the title to "Full Spring" and apologized, saying, "We apologize for attaching a title that could cause misunderstandings."
They further explained, "The weathercaster has only been on morning broadcasts for four days, so the broadcast is very unstable," and "There were many mistakes in today's first broadcast, and she felt upset about her weather segment."
However, the controversy did not subside easily, and the video has since been deleted.
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