"Some Suicides Are Harmful" KBS Anchor Lee So-jeong's Remark... Blue House Petition Demands "Step Down"

Lee So-jung KBS Anchor. Photo by KBS Broadcasting Capture

[Asia Economy reporters Seunggon Han and intern Bongju Kim] A petition demanding the removal of Lee So-jeong (44), the anchor of KBS News 9, has been posted on the Blue House's national petition board.

The petitioner claims that Lee's remarks regarding the late Park Won-soon, former mayor of Seoul, during the news broadcast "undermined the neutrality of the broadcast" and calls for her removal.

On the 27th, a petition titled "Petition for Lee So-jeong's removal from KBS News 9" was posted on the Blue House national petition board. As of 8:30 PM that day, more than 3,600 people had agreed to the petition.

The petitioner emphasized, "Lee So-jeong of KBS News 9, in her role as an anchor of a public broadcaster, said 'some suicides were acts of harm. The most ultimate form of harm,' which, despite being an issue currently under police investigation, led viewers to confirmation bias by quoting a line from a novel, seriously damaging the neutrality of the broadcast."

Earlier, on the 16th, after reports on allegations of sexual harassment against former Mayor Park aired on KBS News 9, the anchor introduced a sentence from novelist Jeong Se-rang's work "From the Gaze": "Some suicides were acts of harm. The most ultimate form of harm."

While introducing the phrase, the anchor said, "It means that someone's death becomes an irreversible harm to the survivors," and added, "The fact that this sentence has been shared countless times means that many people empathized with it." She also said, "The weight of the truth has been borne by the victim, and secondary harm, which was feared to the extent that victim-centeredness seems meaningless, is also rampant."

Photo by Cheongwadae National Petition capture.

She continued, "A broadcaster's remark questioning 'What have you been doing for four years, and now you say this?' caused controversy, and a current prosecutor sarcastically asked, 'Is crossing your arms sexual harassment?'" She added, "Keeping the victim's pain in mind and seeking the truth?that might be the minimum dignity our society must uphold."

Regarding this, the petitioner argued, "Despite the matter being under investigation, the anchor covered the complainant's position in the first segment of the news about former Mayor Park and quoted a line from Jeong Se-rang's novel in the last segment," and claimed, "By selectively using only one phrase, the broadcast led viewers to believe that all matters had been concluded."

The petitioner also stated, "The sexual harassment accusation and the circumstances of death involving the complainant during former Mayor Park's term are matters under investigation by the police and others," and said, "Broadcasting it as if the conclusion has been reached seriously damaged the deceased's honor by drawing conclusions before the judiciary's judgment."

He wrote, "As a public broadcaster, KBS News 9's main anchor Lee So-jeong, who is a former reporter, seriously damaged the neutrality of the broadcast, and I petition for her removal."

Meanwhile, anchor Lee So-jeong joined KBS as a reporter in 2003 and has been hosting News 9 since November of last year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.