Viewer Petition Raised Protesting Commentators' Remarks
"Use Only Names Ansan, Jang Minhee Without Honorifics"
On the 25th (local time), athlete An San during the 2021 World Archery Championships held in Yankton, South Dakota, USA / Photo by Korea Archery Association
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Ju-hyung] A KBS announcer has been accused of making inappropriate remarks such as "the worst" toward athletes while broadcasting the '2021 World Archery Championships.'
On the 27th, a petition titled 'KBS sports Archery World Championships male caster, apologize to the athletes' was posted on the KBS Viewer Rights Center bulletin board.
The petitioner pointed out that Lee Ki-ho, a KBS N Sports announcer who was in charge of broadcasting the women's individual recurve event at the World Championships held in Yankton, South Dakota, USA, made inappropriate remarks toward the athletes.
The petitioner criticized Lee's remarks in the broadcast, saying, "In the mixed event, he referred to Kim Woo-jin and An San not as equal players but as an 'oppa' (older brother) leading his younger sister. Then, during the women's individual event broadcast, he referred to An San and Jang Min-hee without using the honorific 'player,' calling them simply An San and Jang Min-hee in informal speech." He added, "As if that wasn't enough, he used expressions like 'the worst' and 'what is this' toward players who scored 7 or 8 points."
Recently, the national archery team requested on the tvN variety show 'You Quiz on the Block' that even if they shoot an 8-point shot, the commentary should be positive, such as '8 points is okay' or 'it feels human.'
In response, the petitioner urged, "This is very rude to the athletes. He has no qualification to commentate. Please apologize to the athletes and to the viewers who felt uncomfortable."
KBS viewer petitions operate such that if more than 1,000 people agree within 30 days (about a month) after posting, the broadcasting official responds directly. As of the 28th, this petition has exceeded 3,000 agreements, meeting the response criteria.
Meanwhile, this is not the first time that commentators' remarks during sports broadcasts have caused controversy. Previously, during the men's judo event at the '2020 Tokyo Olympics' held on July 26, an MBC caster expressed regret toward An Chang-rim, who won the bronze medal, by saying, "It's not the medal color we wanted," sparking controversy.
The caster's comment about the 'medal color' seemed to express a sorrowful feeling that the result was disappointing compared to the athletes' efforts, but some netizens strongly criticized it as "gold medal supremacy."
Regarding this, then MBC President Park Sung-je issued a public apology, saying, "I bow my head and apologize to the citizens of the country and viewers who were hurt by the careless broadcast and the lack of consideration for participating countries."
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