Han Gain, what sin… Cho Soo-bin’s parachuting controversy ‘That Day’, emergency press conference on external pressure suspicion

[OSEN=Byungwoo Jang Reporter] The ongoing ‘History Journal That Day’ has been engulfed in controversy over parachute suspicion and coercion suspicion surrounding MC selection. Amid rumors of cancellation, KBS PDs plan to hold an emergency press conference to voice their current situation.

On the 14th, KBS PD Association will hold an emergency press conference at KBS headquarters in Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, to address the coercion suspicion revealed on the 13th regarding ‘History Journal That Day.’

The emergency press conference is expected to be attended by Kim Sewon, President of KBS PD Association, Kim Eun-gon, Vice President of KBS PD Association, Cho Ae-jin, chief deputy of the KBS Headquarters Press Union, and Ki Hoon-seok, chief deputy of the KBS Headquarters Current Affairs and Culture Central Division.

The KBS PD Association stated, “KBS’s long-running history program ‘History Journal That Day’ is facing the risk of cancellation due to the parachute MC. We hope for your participation and questions to give the production team, who is fighting alone, an opportunity to voice their concerns to the world.”

Earlier, it was reported that the production team of ‘History Journal That Day’ had confirmed actress Han Ga-in as the new MC and was preparing for the first broadcast, but they received a notification of indefinite temporary suspension from the agency.

‘History Journal That Day’ first aired in 2013 and ended in February. According to the production team, they were planning to meet with viewers after reorganizing, but the cancellation decision was made by the agency when the MC, panelists, experts, and script had all been finalized, as the agency tried to push former KBS announcer Jo Soo-bin, who had served as a member of the Presidential Committee for National Unity Media, as the parachute MC but failed.

PDs Shin Dong-jo, Kim Min-jeong, Choi Jin-young, and Kang Min-chae stated, “On April 25, just 3 days before the scheduled first recording of the revamped program on April 30, PD Im Je-won, head of the production 1 department, informed SBS Chief Im Sang-heon that Jo Soo-bin would be assigned as the ‘parachute MC’.” They further revealed, “Though the content layout and guest recruitment for up to the 5th episode had already been completed, just before the recording, PD Im Je-won designated Jo Soo-bin as the parachute MC and essentially notified us of the program’s cancellation.”

Jo Soo-bin’s side stated that they had not received any recruitment request. Jo Soo-bin’s agency stated, “There has been no recruitment request for the host. We have no knowledge of any discussions within KBS regarding the selection of the program host. Above all, we regret the biased and associative nature of the expression ‘parachute’ and its connection to a specific viewpoint in the report.” /[email protected]