'Child abuse' on South Korean reality TV show sparks backlash over 'mindless content' in hunt for views
The growth of South Korean reality TV programmes featuring psychiatrists is under scrutiny for its potential to harm and erode social values, after a popular show sparked outrage for apparently playing down child abuse.
The programmes became hot content during pandemic lockdowns and have since proliferated, with many stations producing shows that focus on toxic marriages and sex, and offer "solutions" from presumed professionals.
Many of South Korea's largest networks broadcast such shows, including MBN's Teenage Parents, tvN's We Cha-cha-cha, Tving's Between Marriage and Divorce and TV Chosun's We Got Divorced 2.
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But major player MBC TV recently came under fire for airing an episode that included footage of a 36-year-old man sexually molesting his seven-year-old stepdaughter.
Oh Eun-young's Report: Marriage Hell features psychiatrist Oh Eun-young, with different couples invited on every week to discuss their marital woes.
It's billed as a "reality-empathy talk show that observes the precarious daily life of couples who say that being together has become hell".
A typical episode will have Oh and other commentators offer the couple being featured what is purportedly professional advice designed to tackle their problems by watching footage of their lives together.
The episode that aired on December 19 was anything but typical, however.
In a disturbing clip shown in the episode, the 36-year-old husband at the centre of the child abuse scandal can be seen rolling around on the floor with his stepdaughter playing what he calls a "medical injection game".
As the seven-year-old girl yells for her "uncle" to stop, he places her on his stomach, holds her between his thighs and touches her beneath her clothes. The mother, looking on, makes only half-hearted attempts to stop him.
Later on in the show, the husband claims that this is just the way he plays games with his stepdaughter, and expresses regret that his "fatherly affection" isn't reciprocated.
A police investigation will be opened into the suspected abuse case, a spokesman for North Jeolla Province Police confirmed.
Psychiatrist Oh, when viewing the footage, said that the man should have stopped when the child said no, regardless of whether he had good intentions.
Even if the child was his own biological daughter, he should not be touching her in such ways, Oh said, emphasising that it was important to respect the child's wishes concerning physical contact.
Some children were more sensitive than others and his stepdaughter appeared to be one of them, she added.
Oh also expressed sympathy for the man's childhood trauma - his mother left when he was young - saying his experiences "tug at the heart".
Oh's remarks sparked an uproar, with accusations she was seeking to pin part of the blame for the man's actions on the child.
Thousands of complaints flooded MBC's website decrying the broadcast of what looked like sexual molestation and calling for the show to be cancelled.
"I was perplexed why he kept forcefully putting the girl between his legs even after she said she doesn't want to play any more," wrote one viewer. "His hand is in a weird place too," said another.
"It is nothing less than a child abuse case. How could a broadcaster condone this?" said one Twitter user.
Others questioned why Oh - a specialist in child and adolescent psychiatry - failed to report the stepfather for his inappropriate behaviour.
"I was appalled when Dr Oh said ... on the show that the man 'feels lonely'. She should have immediately stopped the filming and reported it to police as a case of child abuse," said Jeon Yeo-ok, a renowned conservative political commentator.
Jeon urged Oh to quit the show and return to her day job to prove she was "not only a psychiatrist but a responsible adult".
Kong Hea-jeong, head of the Korea Child Abuse Prevention Association, said medical doctors such as Oh were obliged to immediately report any suspected child abuse cases to the authorities.
"This episode highlights the low level of sensitivity about underage sexual molestations in this country," Kong said.
Oh issued a statement rejecting allegations that she was turning a blind eye to child abuse for the sake of viewing figures.
"I've never intended to defend the man or blame the child," she said, adding it was "hurtful" that she was seen condoning a child abuse case.
According to Oh, she repeatedly warned the stepfather during their five hours of taping that he must not touch the child's body or engage in any other behaviour against her wishes.
However, she said many of these comments were edited out of the 80-minute broadcast.
She also claimed the man had corrected his behaviour after taking her advice on the show.
The show's producers have apologised for "inadvertently airing the footage that sparked concerns among viewers while focusing only on analysing the conjugal problems of the couple".
The episode is no longer available to view and the show has been placed on a two-week break for "internal reorganisation", MBC said.
The Korea Communications Standards Commission said it plans to open an investigation next week.
Choi Yong-sung, a psychiatrist and former head of the Korean Association of Social Psychiatry, said shows like Oh Eun-young's Report: Marriage Hell had helped to normalise the act of seeking therapy, but went against the principles of his profession.
"Psychiatrists, like Catholic priests, must keep confidential what they come to know through confessions and they must not go public with them. The TV reality show directly goes against this principle," he said.
"The show has helped lower the psychological threshold of seeing a psychiatrist but at the same time it has resulted in greater social stigma on some of those who appeared."
Other experts say such shows operate under the guise of helping people, but in reality are just competing for viewers and advertising revenue.
Not only that, they are likely to proliferate as more people lose social networks with growing population mobility, declining community participation and a growth in single-occupant households, said Lim Myung-ho, a psychology professor at Dankook University.
Viewers may learn lessons from these shows, he said, but "we have to filter out mindless content that may attract more viewers but erode moral values. Otherwise, I am afraid we will see many more of this kind of incident".
South Korea recently raised the maximum recommended prison sentence for child abuse - and culpable homicide - to 22 years and six months, or life imprisonment at the judge's discretion.
Just over half of all people in South Korea convicted of sex crimes against children between 2016 and 2020 received suspended sentences, according to data presented to parliament in October by a ruling party lawmaker.
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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