Broadcaster Park Soo-hong has directly apologized amid controversies that a flight bound for Guam was delayed by about an hour due to his family changing their minds about getting off the plane.

On August 26, Park posted on his social media, "Recently, a delay occurred during a flight's departure due to my family. We caused great inconvenience, taking up the precious time of many people, and also caused trouble for the airline officials. I bow my head and sincerely apologize."

He also directly explained the situation at the time that sparked the controversy. Park stated, "Panicked because my child was crying so hard upon boarding that we couldn't even take our seats, I made an immature decision. Fearing that the child's crying during the long flight would cause even greater distress to the passengers, I conveyed my intention to get off to the in-flight personnel." However, he explained that while waiting inside the cabin, the child stopped crying, which led him to express his intent to board again.

He acknowledged his responsibility, stating, "I failed to realize in advance that this could significantly delay procedures such as security checks. This happened entirely due to my ignorance of aviation-related procedures, and there is no room for excuse." He bowed his head deeply once again, adding, "Once again, I bow my head and deeply apologize to the passengers and airline officials who suffered great harm due to my shortcomings."

Previously, online eyewitness accounts spread stating that on August 23, Park Soo-hong's family boarded an international flight, expressed their intent to get off after their child cried, and then changed their minds, delaying the departure by about an hour. It was also reported that the flight actually arrived in Guam about 30 minutes later than scheduled. A passenger who claimed to be on the same flight described the situation at the time, saying, "Park Soo-hong's baby cried extremely hard," "They said they had to get off because the baby was crying too much," and "While the legal team came to explain the situation, which took about 50 minutes to an hour, the baby calmed down a bit and we departed."

(Photo courtesy of SBS Entertainment News, reported by Kang Kyung-yoon)