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[ASKKPOP] Dispatch apologizes for misreporting on Lee Tae Im and Yewon

Korean celebrity media outletDispatchsent their apologies to their readers as well as those who were involved for their careless reporting in regards to the incident surrounding female idolYewonand actressLee Tae Im.


 


Dispatch previously had released an interview with one of the female divers who were at the site when the incident occurred, causing many netizens to further turn their backs on Lee Tae Im. However, a footage of the incident was released later on which showed Yewon speaking to Lee Tae Im informally even after the agency had denied such happening prior to the release.


The official apology letter was posted via Facebook. They wrote, "We learned to 'always question,' but we reflect if we had questioned [enough] when it came to the reporting at Jeju Island. 


Lee Tae Im and Yewon's statement were divided. The judgement that Dispatch made was [to trust] the third party. We thought that if both parties gave contradicting statements, then a third party would give the most accurate statement. 


So we went down to Jeju Island and met with the female diver who was on site and recreated the scene, but [we realize] that was a mistake when it came to the result. We had blindly put faith in the witness. We should have cross-checked in reference to the witness's statement, but we have not done so.


What's clear is that this is not the fault of the female diver, she only told us what she had heard and felt. The female diver remembers Yewon as a 'kind young lady.' She might have thought that Yewon's short words (informal speaking) was an expression of familiarity. 


In addition, the female diver was from Vietnam. She probably wasn't able to catch the different nuances. In Korean language, 'ah' and 'uh' are completely different.


Everything is our fault. We failed to notice that the testimony would be subjective with the female diver. Why couldn't we think of this back in Jeju Island? This was negligent of us. 


The motto of Dispatch is 'News is fact,' so we should have been more careful. If we don't properly deliver the fact, it could shade the truth. 


The reason we always go to the scene of the incident is to find the fact. It's because we believe that the site has the right answers, but the site did not have the right answers. It only had just the basics. 


It's late, but we've realized a lot. We've learned the reason why there was no such thing as being excessive when it comes to fact checking. We will look back on what has happened and reflect. We will be much more careful from now on and be more cautious.


Lastly, we want to sent our apologies to Lee Tae Im. Of course, we are not justifying the cursing. However, we acknowledge that our report [on the issue] was rash. We have caused misunderstandings against our own will. We're sorry."