The Online Quiz Contest Question That Enraged The Korean Public
Content Warning
Various incidents have occurred in the Korean music industry over the years, some more well-known than others. Recently, a past controversy resurfaced on an online community post, garnering much attention from netizens.
In 2017, an incident on the Yes24 site caused a widespread stir in Korean news. To celebrate Yes24’s 18th anniversary, they held a 2017 National Quiz Contest and made a huge error in one of the questions.
For the preliminary multiple-choice quiz, they asked the question, “Who is currently not a member of SG Wannabe? 1. Chae Dong Ha 2. Lee Seok Hoon 3. Kim Yong Jun 4. Kim Jin Ho.”
The answer to the question was Chae Dong Ha, but the problem was with the reason as to why.
Correct. Chae Dong Ha left the group and died by suicide.
— Yes24
The answer caused much criticism in which Yes24 quickly apologized for their actions.
“We sincerely bow our heads in apology.
We have brought great disappointment and sadness to Chae Dong Ha’s family, the SG Wannabe members, and fans for using inappropriate questions for our Yes24 quiz event.
We have deleted all problematic parts of the quiz and will look over everything carefully so that something like this will never happen again.
Everyone at Yes24 feels a heavy sense of responsibility for this incident and is reflecting on our actions.
We will deeply remember the grave mistake we have made and work hard to show a better image. Once again, we apologize for causing inconvenience.
From, Yes24 executives and employees”
— Yes24
Netizens who were just finding out about this incident could not hide their shock.
- “They’ve really all gone mad…”
- “??”
- “Crazy…”
- “The person who approved this must be a psychopath? Are they crazy?”
- “Wow….”
- “Crazy…seriously.”
- “Is someone’s life a joke to you? What was the organizer of the even doing?”
- “I don’t know the system exactly, but the question probably went through many people before it was approved. Did no one think that it would be a problem?”
- “Wow…”
- “Damn…”
- “Are they psychopaths…”
- “Are they crazy?”
- “This looks like some dark web sh*t…goosebumps.”
Last month marked Chae Dong Ha’s 13th anniversary of his passing. The autopsy, done at the request of the bereaved family, revealed that no signs of homicide were found. He passed away at the age of 30.