The entertainment industry has been suspending various events and mourning the victims since the Jeju Air disaster that occurred at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla Province.

Some stars are donating money and showing their support for the victims and their families, and the broadcasting industry is also holding a time of condolences and mourning by drastically reducing or canceling various entertainment programs, production press conferences, and YouTube content until the 4th, the period of national mourning.

The three terrestrial broadcasters have canceled all large-scale events, including award ceremonies, which are one of the biggest events of the year-end.

MBC said, “We want to remember the victims and share the pain of the bereaved families,” and canceled the live broadcasts of the Entertainment Awards on the 29th of last month, the Drama Awards and the Music Festival scheduled for the 30th and 31st, and replaced them with recorded broadcasts. MBC selectively aired various entertainment programs as well as advertisements in order to restrain the excited atmosphere due to the characteristics of the year-end and New Year‘s holidays.

KBS also canceled the ‘2024 KBS Drama Awards’ scheduled for the 31st, saying “We convey our deepest condolences.” SBS canceled the Entertainment Awards ceremony itself, which was scheduled to air on the 31st.

Each broadcasting company also established a policy to consider the emotional atmosphere for a certain period after the national mourning period is over.

Content promotion schedules such as stage greetings and production reports have also been completely changed. The Disney+ drama ‘Trigger’, scheduled for the 3rd, canceled its press screening, and the Hyun Bin movie ‘Harbin’ and Song Joong-ki movie ‘Bogota: Land of Last Chance’, also canceled their stage greetings scheduled for the 1st and 3rd.

In order to eliminate the laughter and chatter, entertainment programs were also canceled one after another. Starting with KBS 2TV’s ‘The Seasons - Lee Young-ji‘s Rainbow’, ‘Gag Concert’, ‘Music Bank’, ‘New Release Convenience Store Restaurant’, SBS’s ‘Dolsing for Men’, ‘When You Meet Me’, etc. will be taking a week off.

Web entertainment show ‘Salon Drip 2’ hosted by Jang Do-yeon, and Park Na-rae‘s YouTube channel ‘Na-rae Food’ will also not be releasing their own content but will be joining in the mourning.

Some stars have also donated money to sympathize with the grief.

According to the Community Chest of Korea (Love Fruit) on the 1st, Park Na-rae, who is from Muan, helped support the victims of the disaster.

Although the amount of support was not disclosed, he conveyed his feelings, saying, “I would like to express my deepest condolences and comfort to the bereaved families who have lost their beloved ones.”

Im Si-wan, Lovelyz members Jin and DinDin, comedian Lee Seung-yoon, and Hong Hyun-hee and Jason also donated through the Hope Bridge Disaster Relief Association and the Korean Red Cross, respectively.

Meanwhile, chef Ahn Yoo-seong, who gained popularity through the Netflix cooking show “Black and White Chef,” has been visiting Muan International Airport every day since the 30th of the disaster to deliver gimbap and abalone porridge that he prepared himself, and to comfort the bereaved families.


Reporter Lee Jeong-yeon annjoy@donga.com