"Unanswered Questions" Forbidden To Broadcast Planned Show On The Late Kim Sung Jae's Death

SBS’s “Unanswered Questions” (also known as “The Its Know”) has been forbidden to broadcast a planned show about the late Kim Sung Jae’s death.

On August 2, the Seoul Southern District Court accepted a provisional injunction filed by Ms. Kim to forbid the broadcast. Ms. Kim was the girlfriend of the late Kim Sung Jae at the time of his death.

The court ruled, “It is difficult to say that this is a broadcast made solely for the public interest. There is a risk that it could cause irreparable damage to Ms. Kim’s character and honor.”

The production staff of “Unanswered Questions” responded by expressing regret at the ban but stating that they will comply with the court ruling.

Kim Sung Jae was a member of the popular duo Deux in the early 1990s. On November 20, 1995, he was found dead in a hotel room. The autopsy results showed that he had 28 needle marks on his body and found traces of animal anesthesia in his system. At the time, Ms. Kim came under suspicion for murder, but she was acquitted during her trial.

“Unanswered Questions” released a preview of their planned episode on July 27. Ms. Kim filed the injunction application on August 1.

The following is the official statement released by “Unanswered Questions” in response to the court ruling:

While we have no choice but to follow the court ruling that bans our upcoming episode on the late Kim Sung Jae, the production staff deeply regret this decision.

The episode tackled an unsolved case that has many unanswered questions and in which the public has a high level of interest. It was an opportunity to interview experts of newly developed scientific techniques that may have shed some light on the case, and we spent five months researching and collecting material for the story.

The production staff regret that even though our goal was to promote the public interest and show how new scientific evidence could solve unsolved crimes, we were instead suspected of trying to defame a specific person. The production staff also regret that the show was banned before the public could review it.

“Unanswered Questions” will continue to work hard to fulfill the role of the press, which is to reveal the truth on behalf of the powerless who cannot rely on the law. We are concerned that this ruling may make it difficult in future for people to investigate the truth of the many other unsolved cases in which suspects have been acquitted.

We did not expect the whole show to be banned from broadcast. While we will respect the court’s ruling, we will have to think deeply on what to do about the material that has already been reported.

“Unanswered Questions” will not be airing on August 3 and will be replaced by Episode 6 of “Doctor Detective.”

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