'Radio Star' faces regulator's discipline over 'glamorization of drinking'
Singer Kang Min-kyung makes a bomb shot for comedian Kang Yoo-mi on MBC talk show “Radio Star” in February. Capture from MBC
By Dong Sun-hwa
MBC TV's popular talk show “Radio Star” is facing discipline for what the state broadcasting regulator describes as “over promotion of drinking alcohol” to minor viewers.
The Wednesday show is required to be suitable for viewers as young as 15. But its Feb. 20 episode showed some cast members bragging about their own recipe for “honey-sweet bomb shot” ― a cocktail of sorts made with soju and beer. They made the cocktail and drank on stage.
The Korea Communication Standards Commission Broadcast Deliberation Subcommittee of (KOCSC) said on Sunday that the episode had “glamorized and over-promoted drinking” even though its viewers included minors.
“If making and drinking bomb shots is excessively highlighted, this could promote alcohol consumption,” the subcommittee said in a statement.
The subcommittee will soon hold a meeting to decide what action to take.