Broadcaster Park Soo-hong stopped posting on social media and uploading to YouTube after the controversy over the delayed flight.
On the 31st of last month, no videos were posted without special notice on the family YouTube channel Park Soo-hong Happy Dahong, which Park Soo-hong and his wife Kim Da-ye had been running together.
Originally, the YouTube channel uploaded new videos every Monday at 5 p.m. In particular, after their daughter Jae-i was born, vlogs showing ordinary daily life or trips with Jae-i were uploaded weekly. That day as well, a new video should have been released as usual, but uploads stopped after the video posted on the 24th without any separate notice.
This appears to be the aftermath of the airplane delay controversy that arose on the 26th. Earlier, the Park Soo-hong family boarded a flight from Incheon International Airport to Guam on the 23rd, and during this process, when their daughter Jae-i cried, they reportedly communicated to the flight attendants their intention to disembark. In response, the airline proceeded with unloading the Park Soo-hong family's baggage, and then when the daughter stopped crying, Park Soo-hong's side reversed its stance and said they would board the plane again. Eventually, the airline went through the procedure of reloading the baggage, and as a result the flight departure was delayed by about an hour. However, the arrival time was shorter and was confirmed to be delayed by 31 minutes.
These facts spread through online communities, and photos of baggage appearing to belong to the Park Soo-hong family being unloaded and videos of Park Soo-hong apologizing several times to passengers on the plane were also released. Along with criticism that the family was a nuisance, claims continued that allowing the reversal of the decision to disembark itself was a celebrity privilege.
Amid this, Park Soo-hong posted directly right after the controversy and explained the situation, saying, "I panicked and made an immature judgment because the child cried so much that they could not be seated as soon as we boarded. I told the cabin staff that I would disembark because I thought the child's crying during the long flight would cause greater harm to the passengers."
He added, "While waiting (to disembark) in the cabin, the child stopped crying and I expressed the intention to board again, but I did not realize that this could significantly delay time for security checks and so on. This occurred entirely because of my ignorance of airline procedures and there is no excuse for it," and bowed, saying, "Once again, I bow my head and deeply apologize to the passengers and airline staff who suffered great inconvenience because of my shortcomings."
Afterward, Korean Air Lines also told the media, "When a passenger voluntarily indicates an intention to disembark, we respond according to procedures and principles," adding, "We also responded according to the principles in this case." They said that although the Park Soo-hong family expressed an intention to disembark, they did not actually disembark from the cabin and then reboard. They explained that under regulations, even if a passenger expresses an intention to disembark while in the cabin, if they have not left the aircraft, they can retract that intention.
When the facts became known, some criticized the overheated atmosphere against Park Soo-hong, and debate continued. The argument was that the person involved directly admitted the mistake and apologized, and that it is not right to post excessive criticism and malicious comments about something that was not a violation of regulations.
Ultimately, after the controversy, the couple Park Soo-hong and Kim Da-ye, who were on a trip to Guam, are refraining from activity, having stopped personal social media as well as the SNS and YouTube activity that recorded their daughter Jae-i's daily life.
Meanwhile, Park Soo-hong married Kim Da-ye, who is 23 years younger, in 2021, and through in vitro fertilization welcomed their daughter Jae-i in 2024.
[Photo] Park Soo-hong SNS
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