"Baek Jongwon, Cast Removals and Staff Replacements"... Revelations from Former MBC PD

Kim Jaehwan, Former Culture Department PD, Reveals on YouTube
"Baek Jongwon, Like Brothers with Broadcasting Company Presidents"

Allegations have emerged that Baek Jongwon, CEO of Theborn Korea, made unreasonable demands to television production staff, raising suspicions of abuse of power.

Kim Jaehwan, a former MBC Culture Department PD, claimed in a video titled "Can Baek Jongwon Make a Comeback? How Baek Jongwon and the Media Use Each Other!" released on the YouTube channel '45Plus' on April 21, that Baek's relationship with the broadcasting industry changed completely after he gained popularity through his 2015 appearance on the MBC variety show "My Little Television" (hereafter "My Little TV"). Kim has been producing videos critical of Baek for several months, even before the recent controversies surrounding Baek began to surface.

Baek Jongwon, CEO of Theborn Korea, has been accused of abuse of power due to unreasonable demands made during the filming of an entertainment program. Yonhap News

In the video, Kim asserted, "After 'My Little TV,' Baek became a major figure whom broadcasters would invite with large appearance fees," and added, "From that point on, Baek began making increasingly unreasonable demands to broadcasters." According to Kim, Baek demanded that writers and filming crews he personally selected be included in the programs. Kim further claimed, "I confirmed this with several production staff who had worked with Baek," lending credibility to his statements.

Kim explained, "The atmosphere of a program depends heavily on the chemistry between the PD and the filming crew, but in this situation, the responsible PD would be driven crazy. If the filming crew brought by Baek only caters to his preferences, all the power on set inevitably shifts to him." He continued, "If a meeting is held with a writer brought in by Baek, how could a broadcaster's PD speak objectively and candidly? Everything discussed in the meeting would go straight to Baek."

Director Kim Jaehwan, a former MBC Culture Department PD, is criticizing Baek Jongwon, CEO of Theborn Korea. YouTube channel '45Plus'

He also claimed, "If there was someone Baek didn't like, that person would be removed from the show. In such cases, the CP or PD would have to personally apologize to the person who was suddenly unable to appear." Kim added, "Most top stars are careful about discussing staff composition or other cast members, but Baek was completely different. Complaints within the industry kept piling up, but nothing came to light. If the production staff found out that Baek was on close terms with the heads of the broadcasting companies, everything would go his way," suggesting that Baek wielded his industry connections as a form of power.

However, there were also voices disagreeing with Kim's claims. According to the Korea Economic Daily, several directors who had worked with Baek on programs responded to the allegations by saying, "There was never anything like that on our program," or "He does have a direct and forceful style, but it was never to the extent of being considered abuse of power."