PD who slammed idol's dialect used same expressions in her own show, sparking calls for apology

Wonyi, a member of girl group Rescene [Newsis]

Amid a controversy over whether a dialect expression used by Wonyi, a member of girl group Rescene, constitutes a slur linked to the far-right online community Ilbe, Kim Hyun-ji, a producer at MBC Gyeongnam who publicly criticized Wonyi, has been found to have used the same Gyeongsang dialect expression "no" in subtitles on her own past program — drawing fierce backlash. Kim has since made her social media accounts private, but complaints demanding disciplinary action and a public apology continue to pour in.

According to entertainment industry sources, Kim set her social media accounts to private on Monday.

On Wednesday, Kim posted on social media that she was "deeply troubled" after watching a popular YouTube clip in which "a female idol and a producer were cheerfully exchanging 'no-no' back and forth." She added that "despite repeated objections from Gyeongsang dialect researchers that such usage is grammatically incorrect, young people are naturally using the ungrammatical 'no.'"

She further wrote that "when one learns that an expression is rooted in hate speech, choosing what to do with that knowledge is a matter of attitude," and that "as a Gyeongsang dialect speaker, this requires reflection."

The backlash intensified after old footage resurfaced showing that an MBC Gyeongnam variety program she had worked on — "Yap! Hwaryeok Cheonguk" — had used subtitles featuring Gyeongsang dialect expressions such as "What are you saying-no?", "Where would I have had the time to hear such things back then-no?" and "What sin did this kid commit to end up like this-no?" Kim then made her accounts private.

The viewer message board on MBC Gyeongnam's official website was also flooded with posts denouncing Kim.

Messages included calls to "fire PD Kim Hyun-ji," questions asking "MBC Gyeongnam is a regional broadcaster — why are you employing a producer who demeans the local dialect?", a demand for "an apology from the PD who branded all 12 million Gyeongsang residents as Ilbe users," and calls for "an official apology and disciplinary action over PD Kim Hyun-ji's reckless 'dialect-as-Ilbe' stigmatization."

A scene from Wonyi's YouTube channel, "Annyeonghaseyo Wonyi-imnida Jalbutakdeurimnida" (Hello, I'm Wonyi, Nice to Meet You) [Wonyi YouTube]

The controversy began June 28 on Wonyi's YouTube channel, when a producer said, "There was a rattling sound. What was that — scary-no?" and Wonyi replied, "Scary-no. The lighting alone is scary."

The expression "no" then drew criticism from some who claimed Ilbe — short for Ilgan Best Jeojangso, a far-right online community — uses it to mock the late President Roh Moo-hyun.

The National Institute of Korean Language weighed in, saying its dictionary defines "-no" as "a sentence-final ending in the Gyeongsang dialect that attaches to the stem of a predicate, or after the honorific, past-tense, or conjecture suffixes, in interrogative sentences containing a question word, to express a question." It added that "actual usage involves a range of views among scholars and is difficult to characterize definitively."

Wonyi is from Geoje in South Gyeongsang Province. The dialect expression she used sparked an Ilbe-terminology debate in some quarters, and the dispute widened as politicians joined the fray.

Cho Guk, former leader of the Rebuilding Korea Party, said Sunday that "there are people who defend Ilbe's practice of appending 'no' to sentences to mock President Roh Moo-hyun, claiming it is also used that way in Busan and the Yeongnam region."

In response, People Power Party lawmaker Na Kyung-won criticized what she called a "censorship society that polices ideology and even dialect — where people cannot go to Starbucks and cannot freely use their own regional speech."

On Monday, Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok said former Rebuilding Korea Party leader Cho had "out of nowhere started singing a battle cry against the Gyeongsang dialect," and expressed concern that "a promising entertainer who has grown rapidly with a new style of content that authentically reflects her regional roots may, whether by choice or by pressure, lose that distinctive character because of Cho's senseless criticism."

yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com