The explanation fueled the controversy further.
The production team of MBC variety show I Live Alone (hereafter I Live Alone) issued an official apology over allegations of staged direction and violations of local driving regulations surrounding cast member Jun Hyun-moo's trip to Kazakhstan, but cynical reactions from internet users continue.
The I Live Alone production team said in an official statement on the 4th, "We bow our heads and apologize for the delay in providing a detailed statement," adding that, due to the nature of reality programming, they were concerned that sharing detailed processes might undermine the sense of realism, which delayed their response.
Regarding the controversial "impromptu trip" setup, the production team said, "Jun Hyun-moo decided the destination and airline ticket himself on the day," but acknowledged that "it is true that, judging it highly likely he would choose Kazakhstan, staff airline tickets were issued in advance and local cooperation for filming was requested beforehand."
They also explained the controversy over support from the Almaty city tourism board. The production team said, "It is true that we received administrative procedures necessary for overseas filming and filming cooperation for on-site operations from the Almaty city tourism board," adding, "Our earlier statement that 'there was no support' was intended to mean there was no financial sponsorship or production funding, but that expression could be interpreted to mean there was absolutely no local administrative or filming cooperation, so we provide this supplementary explanation. We apologize for not providing sufficient explanation and causing confusion."
They added that the controversy over driving a rental car without documents locally was also due to the production team's shortcomings and lack of knowledge of the regulations, and said, "We will reexamine our production methods from the ground up."
But internet users remain cold to the production team's explanation. In particular, the production team's remark that "they prepared in advance because they predicted Jun Hyun-moo would choose Kazakhstan" drew fierce backlash from internet users.
Internet users strongly criticized the explanation as absurd, saying, "The production team must be shamans," "At this point they should open a fortune-telling shop and tell fortunes," "Is this a modern-day Gung Ye?", "It would be more plausible to say they went to a shaman who told them Kazakhstan would come up." They also pointed out the repeated reversals in explanations and the belated apology, saying, "At first they said they did not receive administrative cooperation, and now they slyly change it to mean there was no financial support," and "It is stranger that they insist until the end that Jun Hyun-moo chose spontaneously."
[Photo] MBC broadcast capture, logo
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