Actor Song Jin-woo and Italian-born broadcaster Alberto Mondi have come under fire for comments that distort and downplay Korea-Japan history, and the production team has issued an apology.
In the early morning of the 26th, the 354 production team posted a long statement on the channel board.
The production team apologized, saying, "In the video uploaded on Nov. 25, due to our mistake, the grants' remarks were conveyed with a different meaning, so we set the video to private. It was our fault that the remarks of the grants appeared to distort particular facts and convey incorrect information."
They added, "The expression 'Korea and Japan fought' had no intent whatsoever to minimize or distort the historical fact of Japan's invasion. Although the remark came up in the process of explaining the situation at the time, the editing flow conveyed a nuance that could make it sound like a simple dispute."
They also said, "The remark 'you have to hear both sides' was not meant to view history as a case of equivalence; it was a general explanation suggesting that, when looking at various social and historical situations, it is good to have an attitude of understanding multiple perspectives. However, our flawed editing failed to convey that original intent sufficiently," and said it was entirely the production team's fault.
They bowed and said, "We deeply reflect and apologize with a strong sense of responsibility for this matter. The explanation was insufficient, and because of incorrect editing the grants' remarks were conveyed in a way that was interpreted with the wrong meaning. We deeply reflect. From now on we will edit and review more carefully. We will strengthen the overall production process so that the same mistake does not recur."
Meanwhile, that day the 354 channel uploaded a video titled "[354 meeting] international marriage...? there are many shortcomings, mother-in-law I love you." The video featured Italian-born broadcaster Alberto Mondi, German-born broadcaster Daniel Lindemann, Australian-born broadcaster Sam Hammington, and actor Song Jin-woo, who discussed international marriage.
In particular, Song Jin-woo, who is married to a Japanese wife and has one son and one daughter, said he was troubled, "Because the kids have Japanese blood, when they learn history at school later there have been cases where children were hurt. Some kids were pelted with stones and called 'Japanese.' Because of such cases, my wife is worried. She worries the kids might be harmed." He added, "We tell them clearly: 'We fought in the past but not now,' 'It's not now but we fought in the past,' 'But later you'll learn things like this,' 'Mom is Japanese but dad is Korean. We have both.'"
Alberto said, "We also have Leo who is very interested in Korean history and reads books. (Leo) says, 'Mom, Japanese people were really bad.'" He added, "I also tell him, 'It was like that in the past but our aunt is Japanese now, right? It's not that Japanese people are bad; this is history,' 'hear both sides'—I say those things a lot," offering advice on how to view history. In Alberto's case, it is known that his younger brother married a Japanese woman in an international marriage.
After the video was released, criticism poured in that describing the historical event of the Japanese colonial period as 'we fought' or saying 'you have to hear both sides' was inappropriate. As the controversy grew, the production team quietly edited the problematic scenes but, facing fierce backlash, ultimately set the video to private.
Below is the full statement from the 354 production team.
Hello, this is the 354 production team.
In the video uploaded on Nov. 25, due to our mistake, the grants' remarks were conveyed with a different meaning, so we set the video to private. It was our fault that the remarks of the grants appeared to distort particular facts and convey incorrect information.
The expression 'Korea and Japan fought' had no intent whatsoever to minimize or distort the historical fact of Japan's invasion. Although the remark came up in the process of explaining the situation at the time, the editing flow conveyed a nuance that could make it sound like a simple dispute. The remark 'you have to hear both sides' was not meant to view history as a case of equivalence; it was a general explanation suggesting that, when looking at various social and historical situations, it is good to have an attitude of understanding multiple perspectives. However, our flawed editing failed to convey that original intent sufficiently.
We, the production team, deeply reflect and apologize with a strong sense of responsibility for this matter. The explanation was insufficient, and because of incorrect editing the grants' remarks were conveyed in a way that was interpreted with the wrong meaning. We deeply reflect.
From now on we will edit and review more carefully. We will strengthen the overall production process so that the same mistake does not recur.
All members of the 354 production team<
[Photo] OSEN DB
[OSEN]