Former Chungju official Kim Seon-tae's new KBS YouTube variety show "Donseontae Success Era" has come under fire for bringing up past controversies involving RESCENE member WONI.
On July 29, a pre-release video for the RESCENE episode of "Donseontae Success Era" titled "First Official Stance Release, Why Is My Story on the News?!" was uploaded to the YouTube channel "KBSu Original." RESCENE members WONI and MINAMI appeared in the video.
Kim Seon-tae directly asked WONI about the past controversy surrounding her use of the phrase "museopno." He asked, "I acknowledge that people have different viewpoints, but it felt like a bit of a stretch. Didn't anyone say it might be viral marketing?" WONI replied, "I can see why people might think that, but I was really worried that being featured on the news would affect our group."
She continued, "I was actually really surprised. I only ever imagined seeing myself on YouTube or music broadcasts, so appearing on the social news section overnight was terrifying. I felt that I needed to be much more careful with every single word I say after that," and explained, "Even if I didn't mean it that way when I spoke, I realized some people might take it differently. I was just using words I normally use, so I was quite flustered."
WONI, who is from Geoje, Gyeongsangnam-do, previously became embroiled in controversy after using the phrase "museopno" in content. The controversy grew as critics pointed out that the expression is used on the far-right online community Ilbe to disparage the late former President Roh Moo-hyun, though counter-arguments argued that it is simply a Gyeongsang-do dialect.
Following the broadcast, reactions poured in criticizing the overall format for bringing up a controversy that had already been put to rest. In particular, the initial thumbnail prominently featured the phrase "What's scary?", and although the production team changed the phrase to "Even if you look at it nicely" as criticisms continued, the backlash did not subside.
The hashtags in the video description added fuel to the fire. It was confirmed that a slew of names from political, business, and cultural circles, including President Lee Jae-myung, former national football team coach Hong Myung-bo, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin, NewJeans, and independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, who have no relation to RESCENE, were tagged. Adding the names of politicians to a video featuring an idol member who suffered from unintended controversy only amplified the level of criticism.
As the fallout grew, the production team switched the video to private without issuing a separate official statement.
"Donseontae Success Era" is a talk show where Kim Seon-tae meets figures from various fields to chat, and is scheduled for regular programming on KBS2 in August.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Kyung-youn)
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