Son Jeong-min's Father: "My Wife Broke Down in Tears on 'That Person' Broadcast, Made Several Requests to the Production Team... Will Inform If Reflected"

"Wife Watched the Broadcast Closely and Requested Several Corrections"
SBS 'Geu-al' Covered the Late Son Jeong-min's Accident on the 29th of Last Month
Some Subtitle Errors... Apology Issued After Corrections

On the 29th of last month, SBS's current affairs program Unanswered Questions covered the accident involving the late Son Jeong-min. / Photo by SBS

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] The family of the university student the late Son Jeongmin (22), who went missing and was found dead at Seoul Hangang Park, has reportedly requested additional corrections from the SBS investigative journalism program 'Unanswered Questions' (Geu-al) production team. Previously, 'Geu-al' had accepted correction requests regarding parts of the broadcast from Jeongmin's father, Son Hyun.

On the 4th, Son wrote on his blog, "In fact, my wife could not properly watch the broadcast on the day 'Geu-al' aired," adding, "From the start, she began crying, saying 'Jeongmin, why are you appearing on Geu-al?' and I only requested corrections on things that stood out to me."

He continued, "Later, my wife watched it carefully and requested several corrections," and "They said they would work on it, but there has been no notice yet."

He added, "Since they said they would do it, I guess they will," and "I will inform you again if the corrections are reflected." Earlier, 'Geu-al' aired a segment titled 'Suspicion, Memory, and Rumors - The Secret of the Death of the University Student Missing at Hangang' on the 29th of last month, covering the incident involving Jeongmin.

SBS's "Unanswered Questions" accepted the correction request from Jeong-min's father, Son Hyun, and revised some of the subtitle content. The production team posted an apology on the official website, stating, "We have corrected and re-uploaded the mentioned broadcast content." / Photo by SBS

Regarding the broadcast, Son pointed out that some content was incorrect and conveyed correction requests to the 'Geu-al' production team. The broadcast included statements from friend A, who drank with Jeongmin at the time of his disappearance, and 'Geu-al' added subtitles to A's remarks saying, "(When I woke up) Jeongmin definitely wasn't there. Jeongmin once passed out like this before."

However, Son argued that these subtitles were incorrect. He explained, "In A's statement, the phrase 'once passed out like this before' does not refer to our Jeongmin," and "There is another friend involved, but whether intentionally or by mistake, the subtitles identified it as Jeongmin."

He emphasized again, "I requested corrections from the 'Geu-al' PD, but there has been no response and it has not been changed," adding, "It creates a misunderstanding that the two (Jeongmin and A) drank together, that our Jeongmin passed out, and A took care of him. It is absolutely not Jeongmin."

Subsequently, the 'Geu-al' production team acknowledged the error and issued an apology. On the 1st, 'Geu-al' posted a notice on their official website stating, "We have corrected the broadcast content mentioned by Son Hyun on his personal blog and re-uploaded the corrected content for replay," and "We apologize to Jeongmin's father and viewers for this matter."

In response, Son posted again on his blog that day, saying, "It feels like begging for forgiveness, but I am relieved that even one misunderstanding has been cleared," and "Nothing related to Jeongmin is simple in any way."