Glorifying Supercar Accidents... JTBC's 'Han Moon-chul Blackbox...' Faces Legal Sanctions

Broadcasting and Communications Review Committee Issues 'Warning'
Manipulations Including Changing Female Driver to Male

The Korea Communications Standards Commission decided to issue a legal sanction of 'caution' against JTBC's 'Han Moon-chul's Black Box Review' for glorifying a traffic accident caused by a supercar violating the speed limit and other regulations.

On the 24th, the Commission held a plenary meeting and decided on this sanction citing Article 14 (Objectivity) and Article 33 (Compliance with Laws) Paragraph 2 of the 'Broadcasting Deliberation Regulations' regarding the program episode aired on December 20 last year. The broadcast covered a supercar total loss accident that occurred in 2015 under the title 'Supercar with parts costing 400 million KRW, priced at 600 million KRW, scrapping incident.'

Attorney Han Moon-chul Photo by Yonhap News

At the time of the accident, the supercar was speeding in violation of the Road Traffic Act and, while attempting to avoid a lane-changing truck, hit the guardrail and was completely destroyed. The broadcast included an interview with a man introduced as the supercar owner, stating that after the accident, he contacted the truck owner and agreed to let the incident go as if it never happened. The program's participants collectively praised this supercar driver, calling him 'a big-hearted person,' 'alive and cool,' and 'so cool.'

However, despite previous media reports revealing that the supercar driver was a woman, the broadcast introduced and interviewed the driver as if he were a man, presenting unclear information as fact, which led to the legal sanction. Additionally, the broadcast pointed out that the truck changed lanes without using the turn signal as the main cause of the accident, while glorifying the supercar driver as if he were the protagonist of a good deed, despite the driver speeding in violation of the speed limit.

During the meeting, Yoon Sung-ok, a commissioner recommended by the opposition, stated, "Although the media cannot always report only the truth, they must verify whether the person is a public figure or not, but they did not even attempt to confirm with the parties involved," expressing an opinion of 'caution.' The Commission's sanctions range from 'no problem,' administrative guidance stages such as 'suggestion' and 'recommendation,' to legal sanctions including 'caution,' 'warning,' 'program correction/modification/suspension or personnel disciplinary action,' and 'fine.' Legal sanctions are considered serious penalties as they are applied as demerit points during broadcaster license renewal and reapproval evaluations.

JTBC's 'Han Moon-chul's Black Box Review,' which first aired in September 2022, is a traffic safety talk show produced with the purpose of creating a Korea without traffic accidents by indirectly experiencing accidents.