The production team of MBC's "I Live Alone" has finally bowed their head in apology regarding the "manipulated production" controversy surrounding broadcaster Jun Hyun-moo's trip to Kazakhstan.

On the 4th, the "I Live Alone" production team released an official statement through their website, saying, "We bow our heads and apologize for the delay in expressing our detailed position. Concerned that sharing detailed production processes due to the nature of reality programs might undermine the sense of reality that is the basis of the program and disturb immersion, we were unable to release a quick stance." They explained the suspicions raised during the production process of Jun Hyun-moo's Kazakhstan trip in detail and conveyed their apologies.

The production team emphasized that Jun Hyun-moo's choice was indeed impromptu, stating, "Jun Hyun-moo's Kazakhstan trip was conducted in a way where the production team followed along with Jun Hyun-moo's daily life, as he usually enjoys impromptu travel. The 'impromptu travel' expressed in the broadcast meant a method where Jun Hyun-moo decided on a travel destination on the day of departure without determining the destination and airline tickets in advance."

However, they explained, "For the broadcast, the production team reviewed flight schedules and filming conditions in advance in preparation for the possibility of overseas filming. We looked into various possibilities focusing on short-distance countries that could be traveled to within a limited time, and judged that Kazakhstan had a high possibility of being chosen when comprehensively considering the travel destinations Jun Hyun-moo usually showed interest in and the airline ticket situation at the time," adding, "Accordingly, in case a trip to Kazakhstan was decided, we pre-booked staff airline tickets and requested cooperation for local filming so we could immediately respond to shooting. If Jun Hyun-moo chose a different destination on the day or failed to get a ticket to Kazakhstan, we planned to cancel the staff tickets and naturally capture unexpected situations arising from that process as part of the travel."

They repeatedly emphasized, "Jun Hyun-moo directly purchased his ticket to Kazakhstan on-site at the airport after checking available flights for departure that day," but apologized, saying, "However, in the process of emphasizing the expression 'impromptu travel' on the broadcast, we did not sufficiently consider the point that the entire process of travel and filming could be perceived as having proceeded without any prior preparation."

Regarding the controversy over support from the Almaty Tourism Department, they stated, "The production team received administrative procedures necessary for overseas filming and filming cooperation for on-site execution from the Almaty Tourism Department. The previous stance that 'there was no support' was meant in the sense that there was no financial sponsorship or production cost support, but this expression could be taken to mean that there was no administrative or filming cooperation from the local side at all, so we are providing this supplementary explanation," and added, "We apologize for causing confusion by failing to provide sufficient explanation in this process."

Regarding the rental car driving, which received the biggest criticism, they admitted, "The vehicle in question was directly reserved by Jun Hyun-moo at Incheon Airport, and after arriving locally, he received it according to the instructions of the rental car company by submitting copies of his passport and international driver's license. However, upon encountering criticisms regarding insufficient related documents after the broadcast, and checking through the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the Republic of Kazakhstan, we belatedly recognized the fact that notarization procedures by the Embassy of Kazakhstan in South Korea are required to rent a vehicle within Kazakhstan," adding, "It is the negligence of the production team for not carefully checking local laws and regulations."

Finally, the production team bowed their head, stating, "'I Live Alone' has regarded delivering the daily lives of the cast as genuinely as possible as its most important value. Nevertheless, in this broadcast, biased toward the judgment that the reality and immersion of the program should not be harmed, we failed to provide sufficient explanation about the actual filming process. As a result, we caused misunderstandings and confusion to viewers, and failed to promptly and clearly explain the suspicions raised afterward. We sincerely apologize for the shortcomings in the production team's judgment and response," and added, "We will accept the criticisms and reprimands sent to us heavily. Returning to our original intentions, we will look back at our production methods and attitude from scratch and create the broadcast more carefully."

(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Sun-ae)