tvN's "Bogeom Magical 2," featuring Ko Kyung-pyo, is set to premiere Nov. 29. [tvN "Bogeom Magical 2" poster]
tvN's "Bogeom Magical 2," featuring Ko Kyung-pyo, is set to premiere Nov. 29. [tvN "Bogeom Magical 2" poster]

A drunk-driving accident involving actor Ko Kyung-pyo on Saturday sent ripples through the broadcasting industry, where Ko had been a busy presence across multiple variety programs.

MBC's "Hangout with Yoo," which was set to air that afternoon, said it would edit out Ko's segments "as much as possible so viewers can watch without discomfort."

The show, whose regular cast includes Yoo Jae-suk, Haha, Joo Woo-jae and Heo Kyung-hwan, had recently run a multi-episode special on the 1995 Seoul Music Festival, with Ko appearing as a guest and drawing attention for his vocal performance.

tvN's weekly variety show "Six Sense: B-Side" also said it would cut Ko's footage as much as possible from Sunday's episode and the following week's finale. Ko had appeared alongside Yoo Jae-suk, Song Eun-i and Bibi on the program.

tvN's "Amazing Saturday" similarly announced it would edit out Ko's recently recorded guest appearance to the greatest extent possible. A broadcast date for that episode has not yet been set.

Ko is also slated to appear in tvN's "Bogeom Magical 2," premiering Nov. 29, and the Tving original variety show "Great Escape: Urban Legends," set to drop Dec. 2, leaving those productions' responses closely watched.

Ko had also been scheduled to hold a solo fan meeting, "2026 Ko Kyung-pyo Fan Meeting: Now Kyung-pyo Night," at Seongam Art Hall in Nonhyeon-dong, Seoul, on Nov. 21, though that event is also expected to be affected.

According to the Seoul Mapo Police Station, Ko drove in a heavily intoxicated state — above the threshold for license revocation — in Donggyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, at around 3:30 a.m. Saturday, and collided with a garbage truck. No passengers were in the vehicle.

Ko's agency said it "takes the gravity of the wrongdoing of drunk driving very seriously and will humbly accept any penalties handed down, fulfilling all responsibilities including making amends to those harmed." The agency added that it "also regards this matter with the utmost gravity and will pay closer attention to managing our actor to ensure the same incident does not recur."


paq@heraldcorp.com