‘Sewol Ferry Tragedy 10th Anniversary Documentary’ Pauses.

‘Sewol Ferry Tragedy 10th Anniversary Documentary’ pauses.umentary’ pauses.


KBS has halted production of the ‘Sewol Ferry Tragedy 10th Anniversary Documentary’ The decision was made due to worries that airing it in April could affect the general election.

On February 21, productions director Lee Jae Won informed the team of the suspension at a meeting with the current affairs and culture department director. He said “The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) has also stated that they cannot broadcast in April, and if there is no broadcast in April, the participants will not be able to cooperate, so they have no choice but to stop production.” Reports say the documentary was 40% done.

Attempts to change the documentary production suspension failed. On February 19, Docu Insight team member Jo Ae Jin addressed the challenging issue at a news conference. Lee Jae Won, who recently took office, told Jo Ae Jin to “produce the documentary to air in June as a series focusing on the recovery from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), linking other tragedies, as the documentary could influence the general election on April 18 (if the documentary airs on April 10).”




The responsible producer spoke with documentary participants to explain and apologize before making a decision. In an interview the same day, documentary producer Lee In Geon voiced his dismay. He stressed that public television “should offer voice to people ignored by private networks. Unacceptable grounds prevented them from sharing Sewol Ferry Disaster survivors’ experiences “He apologized to viewers.

KBS’s NUJ has sought a TV Scheduling Committee meeting. This committee safeguards KBS’s autonomy and news and production staff’s power. Lee In Geon said they’ll involve the FCC if the scheduling committee meeting next Tuesday (the 27th) doesn’t fix the issue.

KBS repeated its explanation for the documentary’s postponement. They said they would air the documentary after June to include the Cheonan Naval Ship sinking and the Daegu Subway Disaster, according the original plan. They said this decision was made shortly after the new director assumed office in December.

Korean netizens said, “The production team should take this to Netflix,” “What kind of reason is that?” “Netflix should take this over,” “KBS should go to hell,” “That is ridiculous,” “This year is the 10th anniversary…” “I’m boycotting KBS,” “Wow, and they still call themselves a public broadcast company?” “It’s been 10 years since the disaster,” and “KBS arrogance.