Former baseball player and commentator Kim Byung-hyun mentioned his hamburger restaurant during a broadcast of a Korea Professional Baseball (KBO) game, leading the Korea Communications Standards Commission to point out that this was 'blatant advertising.'
The Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC) will hold a general meeting on the 7th at the Mokdong Broadcasting Center in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, to hear the opinions of officials from MBC SportsPlus, which aired the segment featuring Kim Byung-hyun's hamburger restaurant. Following the procedure to hear the opinions of the parties involved, known as the opinion statement process, it is commonly understood that there is a high possibility of legal sanctions.
On the April 27 broadcast of MBC SportsPlus's '2024 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League,' a former baseball player participating in the commentary said, 'I am Kim Byung-hyun, a former baseball player now running a hamburger restaurant,' and 'I have opened a burger place at Changwon Baseball Stadium, which is why I am here.' The broadcast also showed the hamburger restaurant for a few seconds.
Regarding this, KCSC Chair Ryu Hee-rim stated, 'It is not something that can happen unless there was a prior discussion, nor did the ball happen to fly there during the broadcast to capture the store,' and she noted, 'This is indeed blatant hamburger restaurant advertising.'