Comedian Lee Su-ji has faced political controversy following the release of a fake documentary content depicting the hardships of civil servants, leading the production team to delete the scene and issue an official apology.
On July 15, a new video was released on the YouTube channel "Hot Issue-ji." The video comically captured the day of "Kim Ji-young," a first-year civil servant working at a community center, played by Lee Su-ji.
Previously, Lee Su-ji gained empathy by realistically parodying various professions such as kindergarten teachers and nurses. This time, she was praised for lightheartedly addressing the reality of civil servants, including low wages, malicious complaints, and heavy workloads. The video garnered high views and became a hot topic within one day of its release.
However, one scene in the video became a point of contention. A scene was inserted where a petitioner shouts "re-election" while civil servant Kim Ji-young is processing work. Some viewers raised concerns that it was mocking a recently sensitive social election issue. One left a comment saying, "It is a serious matter that people were unable to vote, yet they used it as comedy material. It is a problem regarding the fundamental rights of democracy."
As the controversy continued, the production team deleted the scene and stated their official position through the comments section.
The production team apologized, saying, "The scene was not used with the intention of conveying a specific issue or political stance. It was a lack of judgment by the production team to use the scene without carefully considering socially sensitive issues."
They added, "This incident is completely unrelated to the performer's personal political views or intentions, and it was a problem caused by the production team's failure to review it carefully during the production process. We are also very sorry for causing unnecessary misunderstanding and burden to the performer. We are taking this matter seriously and will produce content with a more responsible attitude in the future."
Even after the apology, mixed reactions continued in the comments section. While there were opinions such as "It was a video that captured the reality of civil servants well," "I watched it with empathy," and "Isn't this an excessive interpretation," some continued to criticize that the scene related to the election itself was inappropriate.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Kyung-youn)
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