Anchor Cho Chang-beom of Jeju's private broadcaster JIBS delivers a live news broadcast while allegedly under the influece of alcohol on March 30th. Captured from JIBS.

JIBS, a private broadcaster on the southern island of Jeju, has started disciplinary proceedings against one of its news anchors after a live news segment led to public outrage, with accusations that the anchor was under the influence of alcohol while on-air.

The controversy unfolded during the "8 News" live broadcast on March 30, when anchor Cho Chang-beom exhibited difficulty when pronouncing words and displayed unnatural behavior, raising suspicions among viewers.

During the broadcast, the anchor struggled with pronunciation, notably stumbling over a sentence about the start of election campaign material distribution. He fumbled words like "candidate promises" and "voting precautions" multiple times. There were moments when the screen remained without any commentary from the anchor for roughly 7 seconds.

After the broadcast, the JIBS website's viewer forum was inundated with complaints questioning if the anchor had been broadcasting while intoxicated, noting his flushed face and accusing the broadcaster of being visibly drunk on air, thereby disrespecting the audience.

In response to the growing viewer complaints, JIBS issued an statement on April 1, expressing regret for any inconvenience caused to its audience. The broadcaster removed the disputed segment from its website and official YouTube channel to mitigate any fallout from teh incident.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, sister publication of The Korea Times, was translated by generative AI and edited by staff members of The Korea Times.