An official apology was issued by the shows producers after the sudden and controversial departure of Kim Jong Kook And Song Ji Hyo.
This afternoon a statement was released by the team behind Running Man, which read:
“The producers of ‘Runningman’ would like to state our official stance on the current controversy surrounding the change of members on the show. The producers of the show have been working on a formatting change with the launch of season 2 during January of 2017. During this process, there were a lot of shortcomings in the way of communication. The unintended news reports ended up hurting the feelings of Kim Jong Kook and Song Ji Hyo who have been with us for 7 years and is like family. We would like to sincerely apologize for this to the two individuals.
We apologize to the viewers who have loved Runningman for 7 long years as well.
Once Again, we would like to apologize to Kim Jong Kook and Song Ji Hyo for not being more considerate of them, and also apologize to the members for the confusion this has caused.”
Initial reports suggested that Song Ji Hyo found out about her department through Korean media reports. Both Kim Jong Kook and Song Ji Hyo were apparently forced to leave the show by producers.
