Jang Seong-kyu Responds to Hate Comments and Legal Action

Broadcaster Jang Seong-kyu has decided to take legal action in response to the hate comments and rumors directed at him, particularly regarding allegations of complicity in the suicide of the late Oh Yoo-anna. Previously, Jang was accused of enabling the bullying of Oh Yoo-anna, following revelations from a YouTube channel where Kim Ga-young claimed that Jang had been told by her that Oh was a liar, suggesting he was spreading harmful information. This led to intensified criticism against Jang, prompting him to address the situation on his personal social media on February 5.

In his statement, Jang expressed his distress over the false information circulating about him, stating, "When my name was first mentioned, I was upset because the content was not true. However, I felt that my pain was insignificant compared to the suffering of the deceased and their family, so I chose to remain silent. This silence was interpreted by some netizens as an admission of guilt, leading to an increase in hate comments directed at me and my children."

On February 9, Jang's responses to comments on his recent video from 'Jang Seong-kyu Universe K-universe' became a hot topic in various online communities. In response to severe hate comments, he expressed his feelings of injustice, saying, "I was close to Anna, so please don’t hate me too much."

In a particularly heated exchange, a user threatened him, saying, "If you cover for Kim Ga-young, you’ll really regret it. You know what I mean?" To which Jang replied, "If you keep falling for false propaganda, you’ll regret it. You know what I mean?" He also reiterated his denial of the allegations that he had ignored workplace bullying against Oh Yoo-anna, stating, "Thanks to this, I’ve been called a murderer, and some people have even told my sons to do terrible things. I hope the facts are clarified, and I request a correction once everything is sorted out."

Despite his efforts to clarify the situation, the hate comments continued, leading Jang to issue a second statement on February 11. He revealed that he was encouraged by the family of the deceased to clarify his position, saying, "Originally, I intended to wait until the family found peace before making a statement. However, they felt sorry for me being subjected to secondary harm and urged me to clarify, so I am cautiously posting this. I want to emphasize that I was neither a perpetrator nor a bystander, as I was in contact with the deceased."

He also made it clear that he would take legal action against those who crossed the line towards him and his family.

Oh Yoo-anna, who worked as an MBC weathercaster since 2021, tragically passed away on September 15 of last year. The family has disclosed that she suffered bullying from senior weathercasters, sought psychiatric treatment at over ten facilities, and left behind 17 letters before her passing.