Caster Bae Seong-jae was in charge of broadcasting the women’s semi-finals at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics to be held on the 19th. Kim Bo-reum, who was harshly criticized by Bae Seong-jae during the broadcast, will participate in the match. As a result, criticism is rising over Bae Seong-jae’s role as a speed skating caster once more.
Bae Seong-jae gave a critical commentary on Kim Bo-reum’s play, who was caught up in the ‘bullying driving controversy’ in the team overtaking quarterfinals of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. He said, “Even though Roh Seon-young was very depressed, it was the worst scene in which the rest of the players arrived first.”
Commentator Jegal Seong-ryeol, who was commenting next to him, also pointed out, “As a senior, I feel sorry for this unusual appearance.
Afterwards, a ‘bullying controversy’ arose over Kim Bo-reum’s way of playing, and public outrage arose. Controversy grew so big that more than 600,000 people agreed to the petition to punish Kim Bo-reum in the Blue House petition. In the end, it is known that Kim Bo-reum, who was criticized by public opinion, even received psychiatric treatment.
However, it has been confirmed that this bullying driving controversy is not true. In a post-match investigation, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism explained, “Bo-reum Kim and Noh Noh-yeong maintained their target section record. Noh Noh-yeong slowed down alone following 5 laps,” and explained, “This is a frequent occurrence in team overtaking.”
Bo-reum Kim later filed a lawsuit claiming that Noh Noh-young, who participated in the match, harassed him. On the 16th, the court ruled in favor of some of the plaintiffs, saying, “It seems that there was no bullying driving.”
Meanwhile, Bae Seong-jae and Zhuge Gal Seong-ryeol are known to avoid mentioning Kim Bo-reum as much as possible. However, as the broadcast is scheduled, public opinion that an apology to Kim Bo-reum is growing is growing. MLB Park netizens showed reactions such as “I need to apologize now” and “Are you not going to apologize?”
