Actor Ahn Eun-jin kisses a cast member's wrist during the kissing game segment on SBS's "Running Man." [SBS screen capture]
Actor Ahn Eun-jin kisses a cast member's wrist during the kissing game segment on SBS's "Running Man." [SBS screen capture]

A kissing game segment on SBS variety show "Running Man" has escaped sanctions after a broadcast standards review, despite a sexual harassment complaint filed against it.

According to minutes from the 26th meeting of the Korea Communications Standards Commission's broadcast review subcommittee, the panel voted Oct. 13 that the episode of "Running Man" that aired Nov. 23 last year raised no issues. The meeting minutes were made public Wednesday.

Subcommittee Chair Kim Min-jeong and members Kim Woo-seok, Kim Il-gon and Jo Seung-ho all voted that there was no problem, while member Hong Mi-ae called for an administrative guidance measure known as a "statement of opinion." Four of the five members found no sanctions were necessary.

The segment under review was a game called "A Kiss for No Reason," featured in an episode with actors Ahn Eun-jin and Kim Mu-jun. In the game, a blindfolded cast member tries to identify who kissed them.

The controversy arose during the process of narrowing down the answer. Yang Se-chan was the cast member receiving the kiss, and Ahn kissed the other participant. Cast members then proceeded to re-enact kisses to help identify the person, and even after Ahn kissed Yang's wrist, demands were made for additional kisses.

During the broadcast, Ahn said, "There was no real agreement that I actually had to do this," visibly flustered. The scene played out amid cast banter and on-set laughter, but viewer reactions were divided.

After the episode aired, criticism emerged that a game requiring physical contact from a woman cast member was inappropriate, and a sexual harassment complaint was raised. The commission also received a viewer complaint alleging that a scene appeared to coerce a cast member into kissing during family viewing hours.

Subcommittee Chair Kim Min-jeong determined, however, that the cast members had voluntarily participated with full knowledge of the game's content and format, and that it was difficult to view the segment as forcing physical contact against anyone's will.

"I thought it was difficult to regard this as sexual language or sexual physical contact," Kim said.

"Even if an expression can be received as somewhat uncomfortable, that does not necessarily mean it falls under expressions prohibited by broadcasting review regulations," Kim added.

Member Hong Mi-ae took a different view, focusing on the cast member's visible reaction and the production team's decision to use it for comedic effect. "I think this was a broadcast that was bound to generate a sexual harassment controversy," Hong said, taking issue with the fact that a woman cast member's apparent embarrassment and hesitation were used as a source of laughs.

Hong also weighed the genre characteristics of a variety show and scenes in which the cast member's reluctance was respected. Concluding that the matter did not rise to the level of a formal legal sanction, Hong said administrative guidance would be more appropriate. Hong's recommendation was for a "statement of opinion," the form of administrative guidance available to the panel.

In the final tally, Kim Min-jeong, Kim Woo-seok, Kim Il-gon and Jo Seung-ho voted that there was no problem, while Hong Mi-ae called for a statement of opinion. Following the majority view, the broadcast concluded its review without any separate sanctions.


min3654@heraldcorp.com