Penthouse 3 Using Gwangju Collapse Disaster Faces Flood of Criticism Despite Apology: "Is Human Life That Cheap?"

SBS Friday Drama 'Penthouse 3' Poster. [Photo by SBS Homepage Capture]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seoyoung Kwon] SBS's 'Penthouse 3' production team, which caused controversy by using news footage of the Gwangju Hakdong building collapse accident and the Pohang earthquake damage in the drama, has issued an official statement and apologized, but viewers' criticism continues.

In episode 13 of SBS's 'Penthouse 3' aired on the 3rd, the villain Joo Dan-tae (actor Um Ki-joon) was shown after carrying out a bomb terror attack at the high-rise building 'Hera Palace.' However, during this process, news footage announcing the building collapse included video of the Gwangju demolition building collapse disaster from June, which caused multiple casualties. Additionally, the scene where residents affected by the Hera Palace collapse gathered in a gym used evacuation footage from the 2017 Pohang earthquake disaster.

After the broadcast of the episode, criticism continued on the SBS viewer board and various online communities. Netizens questioned whether it was necessary to use actual disaster footage as a scene in the drama. As the controversy grew, the 'Penthouse 3' production team posted a statement on the drama's homepage on the 4th, saying, "It has been confirmed that inappropriate scenes such as news footage of the Gwangju Hakdong collapse accident and Pohang earthquake damage were used in some scenes of the broadcast on the 3rd."

In the statement, the production team said, "We sincerely apologize to the victims and families of the Gwangju Hakdong collapse accident, the victims and families of the Pohang earthquake, and all viewers." They added, "We will thoroughly investigate internally to understand the circumstances that led to the use of the scenes and do our best to prevent recurrence." Furthermore, the problematic scenes were deleted from all internet replays and VOD broadcasts.

However, despite the production team's apology, viewers' anger did not easily subside. According to a report by Korea Economic Daily on the 5th, a viewer who identified herself as the daughter of the bus driver involved in the Gwangju collapse accident criticized through Hankyung.com, saying, "This is like killing the victims twice." The viewer expressed, "My father still hears hallucinations asking to be saved and suffers from depression, unable to sleep, living painfully with trauma," and added, "Have you thought about how heart-wrenching it would be if my father or other victim families saw this?"

She continued, "It is absurd and unpleasant to show memories that are hard to recall as a scene in a drama," and "The drama showed how lightly they think of human lives." She also urged, "It has been almost three months since the Gwangju Hakdong collapse accident, and people's interest has decreased, but it is not over. I remember Chairman Chung Mong-gyu saying he would take full responsibility until the end, but unlike then, Hyundai Development Company's attitude has changed drastically," and "I hope many people do not forget and pay much attention."

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