“Should I Go to Kazakhstan?” Jeon Hyun-moo’s line was scripted too, reigniting the ‘I Live Alone’ staging controversy

[Financial News]  It has been confirmed that the production team of MBC variety show ‘I Live Alone’ had written a filming scenario—including the flight to Kazakhstan and dialogue—before airing Jeon Hyun-moo’s spontaneous trip there.
The Chosun Ilbo reported on the 16th that documents MBC submitted to Incheon International Airport Corporation on July 22 requesting permission to film included Jeon Hyun-moo’s departure schedule for Kazakhstan and specific details of the shoot.
MBC applied to film Jeon buying a ticket at Air Astana’s departure counter and leaving the country on August 6. The application specified a flight departing at 11:10 a.m., and Jeon actually took that flight.
This was confirmed through documents Incheon International Airport Corporation submitted to the office of People Power Party lawmaker Kim Eun-hye, a member of the National Assembly’s Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee.
In particular, the scenario submitted with the filming-permission application included a scene in which Jeon says, “I’ve been to China too many times. Should I go to Kazakhstan?” and then calls actor Koo Sung-hwan and Kim Joo-seung before deciding to go to Kazakhstan.
In the episode aired on August 14, Jeon was shown arriving at the airport without a plan and deciding on Almaty, Kazakhstan, as his destination after speaking with Koo Sung-hwan on the phone.
Earlier, on August 25, the production team denied allegations of manipulation, saying it had received no filming support or sponsorship.
Then, in an additional statement on the 4th of last month, it explained, “Taking into account the travel destinations Jeon had long been interested in and the flight situation at the time, we judged that Kazakhstan was highly likely to be chosen.”
The production team acknowledged that it had reviewed flights and filming conditions in advance in case an overseas shoot was possible, but said, “In emphasizing the phrase ‘spontaneous trip,’ we did not sufficiently consider that this could be taken to mean that every part of the trip and filming had proceeded without any prior preparation.”
It added that if Jeon had chosen another destination or been unable to get a ticket to Kazakhstan, the team had planned to cancel the tickets it had prepared in advance and include that process in the broadcast.
However, the documents released this time showed no destinations other than Kazakhstan. No filming-permission forms that MBC had submitted to airlines other than Air Astana’s Korean branch were obtained.
The controversy over the spontaneous trip on ‘I Live Alone’ began after the episode aired in August. At the time, Jeon was shown arriving at the airport without booking a flight, accommodation or rental car and choosing his destination on the spot.
Criticism arose that it would be difficult to conduct an overseas shoot with numerous production staff traveling together without advance preparation. Suspicions were also fueled by the fact that driving a rental car in Kazakhstan requires documents to be notarized in advance.
The controversy spread after the city of Almaty said on its website that filming for the program had been carried out with support from the Almaty City Tourism Department.
[email protected] An Gaeul Reporter