Park Soo Hong apologizes for flight delay following child's crying

Broadcaster Park Soo Hong and his wife, Kim Da Ye, have issued an official apology regarding a flight delay that occurred during a recent family trip. The controversy stems from the couple expressing their intention to disembark due to their child's crying, only to change their minds and attempt to re-board, which led to delays in baggage handling and security procedures. This incident has reignited scrutiny surrounding the couple, as past discussions regarding the high price of their daughter J's shoes have also resurfaced.

The controversy began when a post titled 'Park Soo Hong's getting off and on controversy, Korean Air delayed by 1 hour' was uploaded to an online community.

A netizen claiming to be a passenger on the same flight asserted that Park's family expressed their intention to get off the plane when the child's crying would not stop, prompting the process of unloading already checked baggage from the aircraft. The post claimed that once the child calmed down, Park's side expressed their intention to re-board, and the departure was delayed as the airline proceeded with procedures such as re-boarding and re-loading baggage.

As the controversy spread, Park issued a direct apology through his SNS on the 26th. He stated, "Recently, a delay in departure occurred due to our family during the flight departure process. We caused great inconvenience by taking away the precious time of many people and also caused harm to the airline staff."

Regarding the situation at the time, he explained that they were flustered because the child cried so intensely immediately after boarding that they could not sit properly. Judging that the child's crying would cause even greater harm to other passengers during a long flight, they expressed their intention to disembark, but requested to re-board once the child calmed down during the waiting process.

Park stated that he had not realized that the procedures involved in disembarking and re-boarding an aircraft require a significant amount of time. He bowed his head, saying, "I did not realize that things like security checks could cause such significant delays. This happened entirely due to my ignorance of aviation procedures, and there is no room for excuse."

He followed up with another apology, saying, "I bow my head and deeply apologize to the passengers and airline staff who suffered great harm due to my shortcomings."

This controversy has also brought renewed attention to past posts regarding the couple's spending habits. In June, Kim introduced their daughter J's shoes via SNS, mentioning that "the shoes alone cost 8 million won." Although she followed up by explaining that the products were provided through the daughter's modeling activities, some netizens reacted by questioning whether they were excessively highlighting the expensive products and economic achievements of a young child.

At the time, Kim added an explanation suggesting the post was promotional, stating, "What I am most grateful for regarding J becoming a model is that it allows us to fill the shoe rack with beautiful and precious shoes."

Park and Kim were married in 2021. After successfully conceiving through IVF, they welcomed their daughter J in October 2024 and have since shared their parenting daily lives through channels such as YouTube. J has become known to the public from a young age by appearing in various advertisements, and Kim has consistently shared updates regarding her daughter's advertising and modeling activities.

In particular, it drew attention when it was revealed that she had filmed 17 advertisements around the time she was 13 months old, and in May, she garnered interest by revealing details regarding her daughter's tax payments.

As they have been active in sharing their family's daily life, this flight delay controversy is receiving public attention beyond a simple boarding mishap. However, since a large portion of the currently spreading information centers on the passenger's claims and Park's explanation, it is necessary to distinguish the facts regarding the specific delay time and the airline's internal processing procedures.

Ultimately, the core of this matter is not the child's crying itself, but the lack of understanding regarding aviation operations and security procedures during the process of reversing the decision to disembark. With Park admitting this was caused by his "ignorance" and issuing a public apology, attention is focused on whether the controversy will escalate into further disputes.