Kim Sun-tae asks idol Won-i to speak in dialect amid 'Ilbe' controversy — video pulled after backlash

A preview clip for "Don Sun-tae," a KBS YouTube original web variety show, drew criticism after it revisited a past controversy involving Won-i of girl group RESCENE — who had previously been embroiled in an "Ilbe controversy" — using the incident as thumbnail material and tagging unrelated public figures as hashtags. The video was ultimately made private.

On Wednesday, the YouTube channel "KBS Original" released a preview clip for its new entertainment program "Don Sun-tae: Age of Success," titled "First official statement — why is my story in the news?!"

In the clip, Kim Sun-tae — the former Chungju city official who rose to fame as the "Chungju Man" and serves as MC of the show — asked Won-i, "Can you talk a little about the 'mwoga museopno' incident?" Won-i replied, "It was so scary to suddenly appear in the news. I felt I had to be careful with every word I said."

Kim offered some comfort, saying it was "a bit of an unfair pile-on," but then asked whether she had ever heard anyone say it was "just going viral" — and followed up by asking her to "say something in dialect."

The other members reacted with "What?" and "Seriously?" Kim then said in dialect, "Why is my story showing up in politics?" to which Won-i replied, "I don't even know what that is."

Once the clip went public, criticism flooded online, with many saying it needlessly dredged up a controversy that had already been put to rest and put Won-i in an uncomfortable position.

The use of the phrase "mwoga museopno?" in the thumbnail also drew fire, as did the tagging of individuals unrelated to RESCENE in the Shorts video.

The video's description was packed with the names of prominent figures from politics, business and culture who have no connection to RESCENE — including President Lee Jae Myung, former national football team director Hong Myung-bo, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, former Ador CEO Min Hee-jin, NewJeans and independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon.

As the backlash grew, the video was made private.

Fans left critical comments on Kim's personal YouTube channel, writing things like "Do you think RESCENE is easy to mess with?" and "What are you doing dragging along kids young enough to be your nieces?" Complaints also appeared on the KBS viewer petition board, with users asking why a settled controversy was being revived and calling on the show not to air the segment.

Meanwhile, the controversy originally began when Won-i repeated the phrase "museopno" after a producer used it during one of her own content pieces, only to face accusations that the expression was associated with Ilbe, a far-right online community. The controversy eventually spread to the political sphere, and Won-i was subjected to a barrage of malicious online comments.