"Was It Valuable?" MBC Announcer Criticizes KBS Report on 'Lee Seon-gyun Recording'

"The report ruins someone's life"

MBC announcer Lee Seon-yeong mourned the late actor Lee Seon-gyun and criticized KBS for reporting on the phone conversations between Lee and entertainment venue manager Mr. A.

Lee Sun-young, MBC announcer. [Image source=Instagram capture]

On the 27th, Lee opened up on her social media platform Instagram, saying, "Regarding the death of Lee Seon-gyun, I cannot know what the deceased’s feelings were, but I want to address KBS’s exclusive report."

She said, "There was a secretive conversation exchanged during a phone call with a certain Mr. Mo, who is an entertainment venue manager. One could individually criticize the deceased’s actions," but added, "However, I do not understand what journalistic value that report had other than ruining a person’s life." She continued, "The knife written under the name of a report did not only target the late Lee Seon-gyun but also wounded his innocent victims?his wife and children?and in the digital age, it will be permanently preserved, making it difficult to ever heal," strongly criticizing the report.

However, as her remarks became a topic of controversy, the announcer deleted the post and deactivated her account. The "exclusive report by KBS" she mentioned is presumed to refer to the transcript of private conversations between Lee and entertainment venue manager Mr. A, who blackmailed him for money, which KBS reported on the 24th of last month. At the time, the report was widely criticized as "excessive personal exposure."

On the same day, the incident was also mentioned during the confirmation hearing of Kim Hong-il, nominee for chairman of the National Assembly’s Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee.

Park Chan-dae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, pointed out, "It is said that there have been 20,872 reports related to Lee over three months," adding, "Especially private conversations unrelated to the drug case were revealed. Does this have news value? KBS is also engaging in sensational reporting. This is a serious problem for a public broadcaster." Kim, the nominee, responded, "I think (the disclosure of the phone conversations) has no news value," and said, "It is right for us to monitor and take measures to prevent recurrence."

Meanwhile, according to police and fire authorities on the 27th, Lee Seon-gyun was found dead at a location in Seoul. His funeral parlor was set up in Room 1 of the Seoul National University Hospital Funeral Hall in Jongno-gu, Seoul. The funeral procession is scheduled for midnight on the 29th, and the burial site is Seonyeong in Buan-gun, Jeonbuk.

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