Yeo Esther and Hong Hye-geol. [Herald POP (now Herald Muse)]
Yeo Esther and Hong Hye-geol. [Herald POP (now Herald Muse)]

Broadcaster Hong Hye-geol, a former medical journalist, has sworn off writing "sensitive posts" on Facebook after his wife Yeo Esther's company was flooded with malicious comments following his public criticism of the film "The Assassin."

Appearing on her YouTube channel "Yeo Esther's Esther TV" on Friday, Yeo said she had sensed trouble coming on Thursday and warned Hong to "be really careful on Facebook" — only for the post to go up anyway. "Something felt off on Thursday. It had been too long since he caused a problem," she said.

"He left early that morning, and he kept sending me KakaoTalk messages saying 'I'm sorry,'" Yeo said. "I didn't know what was going on at first. Then the internet exploded."

She said Hong kept apologizing but never once said he would not do it again. "So I drew my sword. I told him I would stop supporting Biondue," she said.

Biondue is the medical YouTube channel Hong runs. Hong shot back: "Using money as leverage like that is petty."

Yeo said the fallout hit her company hard. "Our company's internet was plastered with malicious comments. The staff couldn't do anything else — they spent the whole time deleting them," she said. Hong added that the company's chief executive and marketing team had both reached out to him, asking him to hold back. "The marketing staff told me to restrain myself," he said.

According to Yeo, Hong initially agreed to sign a written pledge and delete his Facebook account, but changed his mind the following morning, saying, "So many people look for me — I won't talk about social or political issues anymore, only medicine and culture."

Yeo said she had long wrestled with the situation. "I kept thinking: should someone who writes so well really be unable to write what he wants, just because I run a company?" she said. "I was about to tell him I would quit making money."

When Hong called that an "absurd conclusion," Yeo replied, "Isn't the reason I stop you from posting on Facebook and get angry about it because of the company?"

Hong then read aloud a formal pledge: "I, Hong Hye-geol, solemnly swear that from today I will never again post sensitive content on Facebook that hurts my wife's feelings or causes trouble for the people at her company. If I break this pledge, I will willingly accept any punishment."

Yeo responded in kind: "If a post goes up on Facebook again that makes things hard for the company, I will be too ashamed to face the staff — so I will resign on the spot."

Hong said he had reflected deeply on the episode. "My convictions are all well and good, but I shouldn't be making things hard for the staff," he said. "There are many different views out there, and for someone with a public profile to push only one side too forcefully is irresponsible. I have a lot to reflect on."

A poster for "The Assassin" displayed at a movie theater in Seoul. [Yonhap]
A poster for "The Assassin" displayed at a movie theater in Seoul. [Yonhap]

Earlier, on Sept. 27, Hong wrote on his Facebook page that the film "The Assassin" made him uncomfortable, questioning whether it was right to "defame a person respected or acknowledged by half the population — with surviving family members still alive — through a forced conspiracy theory."

He added that "a script that would never be tolerated when aimed at one's own side gets praised as artistic fiction the moment it targets the other side. That's a double standard."

"The Assassin" is based on the 1974 shooting of first lady Yuk Young-soo at a Liberation Day ceremony on Aug. 15 of that year. The film has been embroiled in controversy over alleged historical distortion since its opening.


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