During Baseball Broadcast, "Jiyeon and Hwang Jae-gyun Divorced"... Commentator Lee Kwang-gil Apologizes

Commentator Kwanggil Lee "Did you know? Hwang Jae-gyun got divorced"
Broadcasted on Visible Radio... Netizen Jiyeon SNS attack as well
Jiyeon directly refutes... This commentator "No room for explanation"

Former girl group T-ara member Jiyeon and KT Wiz professional baseball player Hwang Jae-gyun’s “divorce rumor” was mentioned during a live broadcast by commentator Lee Kwang-gil, who has since apologized.

(From the left) Jiyeon, former member of girl group T-ara, Hwang Jae-gyun of KT Wiz.
[Photo by Jiyeon Instagram]

On the 26th, Xportsnews reported that commentator Lee apologized, saying, “I misunderstood. It was my fault,” regarding his mention of Jiyeon and Hwang Jae-gyun’s divorce rumor. The commentator said, “I heard from someone that they saw the news in a newspaper and started the broadcast with that,” adding, “It was a misunderstanding. I thought what I heard was true. I should have verified before speaking, but I mistakenly spoke based on hearsay.”

Previously, during the broadcast of the SSG Landers vs. KT Wiz baseball game held at Munhak Stadium on KNN, commentator Lee said to the caster, “Did you know? Hwang Jae-gyun got divorced.” This comment was made during a break between innings as a casual conversation and was not aired on the official radio broadcast, but it was streamed live on the YouTube channel “Visible Radio.”

After hearing the commentator’s words, netizens became curious whether Hwang Jae-gyun had indeed divorced. The controversy grew further as Jiyeon’s mention on June 20th on her YouTube channel that she would be unable to upload videos for a while was brought up again. Some netizens even visited Jiyeon’s social media accounts to ask if the divorce rumors were true, causing the issue to spiral out of control.

However, Jiyeon’s temporary suspension of her YouTube activities was due to malicious comments about Hwang Jae-gyun. On June 5th, during the game between KT Wiz and Hanwha Eagles, Hwang Jae-gyun lost his temper and gestured aggressively toward a Hanwha Eagles player, which led to a bench-clearing incident between the two teams. Following this, Jiyeon’s SNS and YouTube were flooded with related malicious comments. Jiyeon’s side denied the divorce rumors, stating they were “groundless.”

It is known that the commentator contacted Hwang Jae-gyun directly the day before to apologize. The commentator said, “It was wrong to speak based on what I heard, and the situation escalated,” adding, “I caused harm to both of them. I apologized to Hwang Jae-gyun for speaking without confirmed information.” He continued, “There is nothing to explain. I was wrong,” and repeatedly apologized, saying, “I am sorry to both of them. I feel like I interfered with a family that is living well. It was my fault to judge hastily.”