Declared Withdrawal After Raising Political Bias Issue the Day Before
"Apologies to Production Team and Listeners... Withdrawal Was Planned"
Professor Jin Joong-kwon, a special appointment professor at Kwangwoon University, who declared his withdrawal during a live radio broadcast after pointing out the political fairness of the program, apologized saying it was an “inappropriate way.” However, he explained that his withdrawal from the program had already been decided.
On the 28th, during the live broadcast of CBS Radio’s ‘Park Jae-hong’s One-on-One Match,’ Professor Jin declared his withdrawal in protest against discussing the remarks of Han Dong-hoon, the Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, who said “people who do politics like dogs are the problem,” as a debate topic. He raised an issue of fairness, noting that the controversial remarks by Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who had mocked the May 18 Democratic Uprising and disparaged remarried families, were not addressed.
Professor Jin said, “Lee Jae-myung’s remarks were not covered here. I usually let things slide, but seeing this today, I think this is not right. There should be fairness, but is this fair? People who constantly make offensive remarks are allowed to do so, and criticism of that is not allowed?” He added, “If that’s the case, I cannot continue this broadcast. I will stop.”
Jin Joong-kwon, Special Professor at Kwangwoon University Photo by CBS Radio, captured from the broadcast screen of ‘Park Jae-hong's One-on-One Match’
Later, on the 29th broadcast, Professor Jin said, “Yesterday, during the live broadcast, I expressed my intention to withdraw from the program by raising the issue of fairness with the production team, but regardless of the validity, it was not an appropriate way to raise the issue, so I apologize to the listeners and the production team.”
He added, “Whenever I judged there was even a slight problem with fairness, I raised the issue loudly without hesitation, and each time the production team fully accepted my intentions,” and “I pride myself on evaluating this as one of the fairest broadcasts in South Korea.”
He continued, “The slogan ‘Beyond factions, toward empathy’ may have differences in how it is realized,” and “I have no choice but to talk about lofty ideal standards, while the production team has no choice but to work with realistic standards.”
However, Professor Jin emphasized, “My intention to withdraw had already been conveyed to the production team before this incident,” and “My intention should not be interpreted as meaning that this broadcast is unfair.”
He then said, “I once again apologize and thank the production team who have worked hard for the broadcast and the listeners who have tuned in,” and “I am stepping down here, but please continue to love our ‘One-on-One Match’ a lot in the future.”
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