Disney+'s "Battle of Fate 49" responded to the portion that used a fallen firefighter's zodiac sign in a fortune-telling mission.
On the 18th, Disney+ told OSEN, "The personal stories appearing in this program were provided based on prior consultation and explanation with the person concerned or their family or representative, and with their understanding and consent."
It continued, "We explained the program's planning intent and structure as a survival-format program featuring fortune-tellers, and consent for providing related information and using likenesses was also obtained. The production team fully recognized the sensitivity of the matter and carefully reviewed the related content throughout the production process when creating the program."
On the 11th, Disney+'s "Battle of Fate 49" released an episode featuring a "guess the deceased's sign" mission. In that mission, the production team presented a photo of a deceased person and clues such as the time of their life and death, and the shamans inferred the cause of death based on those clues.
The person introduced on the broadcast was firefighter Kim Cheol-hong, who died in the line of duty in a fire in Hongje-dong, Seodaemun District, Seoul, in 2001, and controversy arose over using a fallen firefighter as the subject for a survival entertainment show and the apparent lack of respect toward the deceased.
A, who identified himself as the late Kim Cheol-hong's nephew, said, "I understand that the 'Battle of Fate 49' producers initially explained it as a documentary-type purpose dealing with heroes or martyrs who served Korea, and that the bereaved family agreed. I checked with the deceased's older sister. They received consent, but it wasn't that kind of shaman content. She was embarrassed. If it had been like that, we wouldn't have agreed. At the time, his fellow firefighters even contacted the bereaved families and said, 'I feel bad that they put his face out like that,'" he claimed.
Disney+'s "Battle of Fate 49" is released every Wednesday.
Below is the full official statement from Disney+'s "Battle of Fate 49"
The personal stories appearing in this program were provided based on prior consultation and explanation with the person concerned or their family or representative, and with their understanding and consent. In this process, we explained the program's planning intent and structure as a survival-format program featuring fortune-tellers, and consent for providing related information and using likenesses was also obtained. The production team fully recognized the sensitivity of the matter and carefully reviewed the related content throughout the production process when creating the program.<
[OSEN]