YouTuber Jeong Seon-ho, with 1.8 million subscribers, sharply criticized W Korea's breast cancer awareness charity event.
On the 19th, Jeong Seon-ho uploaded a video to his YouTube channel titled "I tried playing the song 'Momma' for my mother who had breast cancer surgery."
On that day, to mark World Breast Cancer Day, Jeong Seon-ho pinned a 'pink ribbon,' a symbol of breast cancer campaigns, on his mother, who had battled breast cancer in the past. He recalled, "When I was in middle school, my mother got breast cancer. She underwent chemotherapy for almost two years, and her hair fell out, so she wore a beanie even in the height of summer because it was embarrassing when people saw she had no hair. The saddest thing was that I learned late that my mother developed the habit of not wearing a seat belt. Breast cancer patients are often uncomfortable with seat belts because they cause irritation, right? I didn't realize that for breast cancer patients a seat belt can be a danger rather than a protection."
He asked, "What was the hardest part for you?" and his mother confessed, "Everything was hard. Even the fine hair fell out. Back then I was hurt and upset that you didn't treat me like a patient, but now I'm grateful. I was able to overcome it on my own and didn't fall into depression."
Jeong Seon-ho said, "I think the most important thing for any illness is to stay away from stress. So I tried not to treat my mother like a patient and stayed by her side often so she wouldn't become depressed, spent time taking care of her and we often went to the mountains, which I think helped her a lot in overcoming it," and added, "What I want to tell everyone is that it can come to anyone without any warning. Like all cancers, even if there are no abnormal symptoms, regular checkups and early detection make treatment much more likely, so I want people to get health screenings, which is why I'm making this video."
When asked how she discovered the breast cancer, his mother emphasized, "I found it because something was caught. It was late stage 2. There were no warning signs. Everyone should always prepare for crises that can come at any time and get regular health checkups." At this point Jeong Seon-ho asked, "Shall we play a song for the breast cancer awareness campaign?" and launched into a rendition of Park Jae-beom's 'Momma,' to which his mother responded in disbelief, "What the hell are you doing?"
Jeong Seon-ho said, "They played this kind of song at the breast cancer awareness campaign event," and his mother expressed her displeasure: "It's a 'campaign' to improve awareness, and they're doing that kind of song — are they out of their minds? It's mockery. It feels awful. It's absurd. As a woman it's humiliating and unpleasant; who would feel good hearing that kind of song? I don't even want to tell others about it. Clothes spin around too."
In response, Jeong Seon-ho said, "I think that food, clothing and shelter are important in life. One of those is clothing, right? W Korea is a fashion magazine, but after surgery some people have asymmetry in the chest area because tissue was removed, and clothes can twist and cause stress every time they dress. Yet at the event they asked celebrities questions like 'How many times do you look in the mirror a day?' Patients probably feel stressed about their clothes every time they look in a mirror. They used the name of breast cancer to sell breast cancer and held that kind of event. They did the event without any study or knowledge about breast cancer," and added, "I'm surprised that we've come to an era where no one notices problems or oddities in the planning and approval process up the chain. That's why I'm making this video."
His mother said angrily, "I get stressed even going to the public bath. I get stressed going to the pool," and added, "I wish there wasn't even the term 'breast cancer.' Since the breast is connected to the lymph, I wish they had just said 'lymphoma.' Calling it 'breast cancer' labels women, doesn't it?"
Afterward, Jeong Seon-ho criticized the W Korea–hosted breast cancer charity event, saying, "Is this right? Can people be this thoughtless? Do famous celebrities and influencers gathered together automatically improve awareness? From my perspective this is a big failure by the organizers. Celebrities and influencers usually have their agencies shape their images like puppets, and they should have come knowing at least the purpose of the event. If they had studied a bit more and thought about it, they might have guessed the event's tone and situation were wrong. But asking questions on the photo line or in interviews like 'What are your year-end plans?' or 'How many times did you look in the mirror today?' shows they didn't realize anything was wrong — it's disappointing and shows a lack of thought."
He summarized, "To restate: they went to a charity event knowing its good intent, but the atmosphere on site used the words 'breast cancer' while offering nothing substantive; to anyone it looked like just a party. One could concede that generating publicity might help awareness, but it looks like they invited celebrities for the wrong reasons, as if they wanted to host a party while giving it a veneer of meaning. It seems they bundled breast cancer into the event to sell it. It's awkward for me to say it aloud, but they sold the idea of breast cancer to bring in celebrities for free and secure dozens of sponsorships. Because the internal environment offered nothing that actually addressed breast cancer, I think the cause was forgotten. In that regard I'm very disappointed."
He continued, "If a celebrity I liked, or a public figure I admired, had taken even a little initiative to look into this, then even with limited life or social experience they could still have made a basic human judgment about right and wrong. That's why my disappointment is so deep and it creates a negative impression. Of course, I think the organizers, W Korea, bear the greater responsibility for planning the event with that concept."
He added, "What was really absurd was asking 'How many times did you look in the mirror today?' I don't know whose idea that was, but my concern is that this event has become viral and those images keep circulating, and that must have caused serious hurt to patients suffering from breast cancer and their relatives and acquaintances. That pains me. I didn't know what W Korea was or want to know, but if they want to pretend to contribute to society in the future, they should at least understand the essence of the issue, study it and think carefully before hosting an event."
Meanwhile, W Korea held the 20th breast cancer awareness campaign charity event 'LOVE YOUR W' on Oct. 15. Although many celebrities and public figures attended and graced the event, there was little discussion of breast cancer in the program. Photos from the scene showed stars enjoying a party atmosphere while drinking, and after-parties drew criticism when Park Jae-beom performed the R-rated song 'Momma,' which directly references women's bodies such as the chest.
Amid various suspicions about the donations, W Korea posted a belated apology on the 19th, saying, "There were criticisms that the composition and proceedings of the Oct. 15 event were not appropriate given the campaign's purpose, and we take this seriously. Above all, we deeply apologize for causing discomfort and hurt by failing to carefully consider the positions of breast cancer patients and their families. We are also sorry that many people who supported the campaign with good intentions may have been distressed by the controversy."
They added, "Thinking of everyone who was hurt by this event, we are reflecting on our shortcomings. Over the years, the core of this campaign has been the activities of the Korea Breast Health Foundation to raise awareness of early detection of breast cancer and to support surgical treatment costs for low-income people, and the support of those who showed warm interest to back these activities. To ensure their loving sincerity does not lose its shine, we will continue to review our shortcomings based on the criticisms and comments. We will take this opportunity to more thoroughly reexamine the entire process of planning and executing events."
[Photo] YouTube
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