Comedian Lee Soo-ji Faces Political Controversy Over 'Civil Servant Kim Ji-young' Sketch; Production Team Apologizes

Comedian Lee Soo-ji has released a mockumentary content depicting the joys and sorrows of civil servants, but the production team has deleted a scene and issued an official apology after part of the video became embroiled in a political controversy.

On July 15, a video titled "Civil Servant Kim Ji-young's Protection of Her Iron Rice Bowl" was released on the YouTube channel 'Hot Issue-ji'. The video comically captured a day in the life of Lee Soo-ji, who transformed into 'Kim Ji-young', a first-year civil servant working at a community service center, struggling with various civil complaints and tasks.

Previously, Lee gained empathy by realistically parodying various professions such as kindergarten teachers and nurses. This time, she was praised for lightheartedly portraying the reality of civil servants, including low wages, malicious civil complaints, and excessive workloads. The video garnered high views and became a hot topic within one day of its release.

However, one scene in the video sparked controversy. A scene was included where a civil complainant shouted "re-election" while Kim Ji-young was processing work. Some viewers raised concerns that it trivialized a socially sensitive election issue. One netizen commented, "The inability to vote is a serious matter, yet it was used as a subject for comedy. It is a matter of the fundamental rights of democracy."

As the controversy continued, the production team deleted the scene and stated their official position through a comment.

The production team apologized, stating, "The scene in question was not intended to convey any specific issue or political stance. It was a lapse in judgment by the production team to use the scene without sufficiently and carefully considering socially sensitive matters."

They added, "This incident is completely unrelated to the personal political inclinations or intentions of the performer, and it is a problem that occurred because the production team did not review it carefully during the video 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 comment 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 Reporter Kang Kyung-yoon)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.