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| Scenes of drama "The Penthouse: War in Life 3" which used real news footage of a building collapse in its episode that aired on Friday. Screen captured from SBS |
By Bahk Eun-ji
SBS's hit drama "The Penthouse: War in Life 3" used actual news footage of a building collapse in Gwangju in a scene depicting the cave-in of a luxury apartment on last Friday's episode of the TV drama. This has raised fury from viewers and especially the bereaved family members of the accident that occurred on June 9 of this year. The row is not subsiding despite an apology issued by the broadcaster.
In the episode, a high-rise apartment in the drama collapses when a bomb set by one of lead characters detonates. The actual accident in Gwangju involved a five-story building that was being demolished that collapsed onto a bus idling at a stop near the construction site. Nine people were killed and eight were seriously injured.
For a scene showing residents of the apartment staying in a temporary shelter, the production team used actual news footage of residents of Pohang taking shelter at a gym following a magnitude-5.4 earthquake on Nov. 15, 2017. The Pohang earthquake injured 92 people and left 1,800 others homeless.
Viewers criticized the broadcaster and the production team for being insensitive to the pain suffered by the victims of the two accidents.
"Are you mad using real news clips of the accidents while the bereaved families are still suffering?" one person wrote on the drama's official website. Many others also demanded an apology.
The production team issued an official apology, Sunday.
"We sincerely apologize to the victims and families of the collapse in Gwangju, the earthquake in Pohang and all the viewers of the drama," the team said in the statement.
The production team said they removed the problematic scenes from the rerun and VOD service of the episode and pledged to do their best to prevent the inappropriate use of news clips in the future.
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