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Representative Kang Yong-seok dropped a complaint against a comedian Tuesday who he had accused of having defamed lawmakers during a TV comedy show. Officers at Yeongdeungpo Police said Tuesday that Kang, who was kicked out of the ruling Grand National Party for sexist remarks against TV announcers, submitted a written withdrawal of the complaint against the comedian, Choi Hyo-jong. The withdrawal comes after the public strongly criticized Kang, who was previously found guilty for collectively defaming announcers with his sexist remarks. Before submitting the withdrawal, Kang said in his blog on Sunday night that unlike his
Kang said earlier that he filed the complaint against Choi because if Choi is not guilty for collectively defaming lawmakers, Kang himself is not guilty either for his defamation of announcers. “Then people may denounce me for exploiting Choi to claim my innocence. In that sense, I apologize to Choi. A few days ago, I told him that I was sorry and that I would drop the complaint. He said he wasn’t hurt,” Kang said in the blog. The lawmaker also criticized the media, claiming they didn’t properly report his purpose of the complaint — showing “unreasonableness of the collective defamation charge” — but only made him seem like “an idiot who couldn’t distinguish comedy from documentary.” In the weekly KBS comedy show “Gag Concert” on Nov. 2, Choi ridiculed lawmakers by saying that an ordinary person can become a lawmaker easily with fake commoner-friendly images and hollow campaign pledges. KBS welcomed the lawmaker’s decision to drop his complaint. “It’s fortunate that Kang has dropped the complaint. He seems to have taken into consideration the opinion of viewers,” a spokesman for the nation’s largest broadcaster said. On last Sunday’s show which was filmed after Kang’s complaint, comedians made full counterattacks in several episodes, satirizing the situation and making fun of Kang. In a play titled “Thank You,” comedians said they worried the viewer rating of the show might fall after another popular play closed the previous week. “But a lawmaker helped us regain the rating! Thank you!” Another comedian said, “At the year-end award ceremony for comedians, I’d like to give the grand prize to the Mapo-based lawmaker,” referring to Kang. Choi himself also said in a different episode, “I’ll tell you the difference between a joke and showing disrespect. A remark is a joke when said between two people, but it is disrespect when said to a large number of people. But in the latter case as well, it is a joke if nobody feels ashamed about it.” He continued, “People ask me whether I will keep making satirical jokes. I won’t if people tell me not to. But I will if one specific person tells me not to.”
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| rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr |
