Oh Se-hoon: "KBS Apology for 'Saengtaetang' Report, Late but Meaningful"

"False Reporting During Election Period Shakes Democracy"

Park Min, president of KBS, held a press conference for the public and apologized while citing the so-called 'Oh Se-hoon Saengtaetang' case as a representative example of unfair reporting. In response, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon evaluated, "Although it is late, it is truly meaningful that a voice correcting the wrongdoing has come from a public broadcaster."

On the 15th, Mayor Oh said on his Facebook, "False reporting during election periods is a 'hand that shakes democracy,'" adding, "We must root out such behavior so that the Korean version of Goebbels cannot run rampant."

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is leaving the meeting room after concluding discussions with Kim Byung-su, Mayor of Gimpo, on the incorporation of Gimpo City into Seoul at Seoul City Hall on the 6th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Mayor Oh pointed out, "However, locking the barn after the horse is stolen does not bring the horse back. Many citizens will continue to believe that 'Oh Se-hoon visited Naegok-dong land and ate Saengtaetang.' In other words, once honor is damaged by false and fabricated reporting, it is almost impossible to restore it."

He continued, "During the Seoul mayoral by-election in which I ran, the Saengtaetang suspicion was intensively reported for several days right before the election, and just before the presidential election, major broadcasters cited an interview from Newstapa related to 'Yoon Seok-yeol coffee.' These are all cases that confused voters by extensively reporting unverified suspicions," criticizing the media.

Earlier on the 14th, President Park named the 'Oh Se-hoon Saengtaetang' report just before the April 7, 2021 by-election, the 'false claim about Yoon Ji-oh's appearance on News9,' the 'Kim Man-bae recording report just before the last presidential election,' and the '2020 collusion between prosecutors and media report' as examples of unfairness. He expressed deep regret for damaging the core value of fairness as a public broadcaster and losing trust, and offered a sincere apology.

President Park stated, "We will avoid reckless breaking news competition, activate fact-checking to prevent false reports, apologize if false reports occur, and as a principle, corrections will be reported at the beginning of the news." He added, "To prevent recurrence of false reporting cases, we will thoroughly investigate the circumstances and facts of major unfair broadcasts and publish a related white paper."