SBS “Unanswered Questions” Blocked From Showing An Episode About The Late Kim Sung Jae

The show on SBS titled "Unanswered Questions" was again not allowed to broadcast an episode featuring the death of the late Kim Sung Jae, a member of a famous k-pop duo "90's duo Deux."

On the 20th of November in the year 1995, the late k-pop star was discovered in a hotel room, in which the autopsy results showed that the victim obtained 28 needle marks on his body and has traces of veterinary anesthetic in his system. The first suspect to the crime was his girlfriend Ms. Kim but later on, he was acquitted during the trial.

Ms. Kim made the latest request with the Seoul Southern District Court for a broadcast injunction and the court accepted the request. So the outcome was, the Kim Sung Jae episode of the show did not air last December 21 as scheduled. The broadcast injunction was filed by Ms. Kim last August 2019. This prevented SBS from airing the episode which featured the late singer.

The court explained their reason for accepting the injunction, they said that the previous broadcast and broadcast differ in reasoning only, but the result, they both suggest that the filer of the injunction might have committed murder.

They also added that the main point of the broadcast was refuting the court ruling appeal in the murder trial that determined that one bottle of Zoletil 50 which is a veterinary anesthetic agent, called Telazol in the U.S is not enough to take the life of a healthy young man like Kim Sung Jae.

When the broadcast was reviewed for the injunction, the show is saying that the acquittal's reason was and is still valid.

And to add, the court has also determined that the broadcast has unconfirmed information that Ms. Kim bought more Zoletil. The suspicions also rose in the broadcast that Ms. Kim injected the victim with magnesium sulfate, which was also not confirmed.

The show is claiming that they made their broadcast in order to fulfill the viewers' right to be informed but it is hard to say that giving information that is not yet confirmed is considered fulfilling the viewers' right to know or that it is contributing to the development of proper or correct media coverage.

When the preview was released for the last broadcast, there were many comments and articles that were posted online and most of it was expressing interest in the dilemma of whether or not the filer of the injunction had murdered the victim Kim Sung Jae. It would be hard or Ms. Kim to recover her reputation if the broadcast's main point is to show that Ms. Kim is possibly to blame for the murder of Kim Sung Jae.

The court said that it is not correct to consider the value of a broadcast as more important than the reputation of an individual.

 "Unanswered Questions" responded to the court ruling, saying, "We respect the decision of the court, but we are deeply frustrated. So long as we continue to receive information on the case, we will continue to look into the matter."