KBS, announcer apologize for inappropriate comments about 5-year-old boy

By Park Ji-won

KBS and one of its announcers apologized Thursday for making comments of a potential sexual nature about a five-year-old boy during a radio show, after being criticized for the announcer's alleged abusive remarks.

KBS and Lee Sang-ho, host of “Lee Sang-ho's Dream Pop,” a radio program showcasing popular foreign songs, released a statement apologizing for an “inappropriate joke” about the boy amid the spread of the coronavirus.

“Regarding Wednesday's show on children wearing masks, we apologize for causing offense and concern to listeners due to inappropriate remarks by the host,” KBS and Lee wrote on KBS's website, Thursday. “We should have not made such an inappropriate joke in this serious situation with COVID-19, but failed to do so and we apologize for this carelessness.”

The apology came after Lee made a comment about the son of a listener during the KBS live show Wednesday. The listener recounted a story about his young child saying, “My five-year-old son gets out of the shower and just puts on a mask, he doesn't even put on his underwear.” Lee responded by saying, “That is so cute. But it is a bit risque, just wearing a mask.”

After the show, about 100 comments on the KBS website criticized Lee's remarks. Some called for his resignation or for action against him while others said that what he said was borderline pedophiliac and could have serious consequences if he lived in a country that took the protection of children against sexual predators seriously.