In its official statement, SBS says it has decided to withdraw an episode of “Law of the Jungle, the Lost Island” from its streaming platform and to remove its producer. The SBS executive was responding to negative viewer reaction caused by a scene, filmed in Thailand, which featured show host Lee Yeol Eum catching three giant clams, a protected species, to eat.
SBS says that the executive committee decided to take disciplinary action against its entertainment chief, including a formal warning, a probation period a salary reduction.
South Korea’s top TV channel plans to extend a formal apology in the episode scheduled to air on July 20th, and is producing a handbook for filming abroad to ensure their crews work within the laws and regulations of the country in which they intend to work.
The production company had apologized previously after it was revealed that that the film crew had entered the location where the clams were caught without the required supervision or permit. The incident provoked anger and disapproval among the Thai public and Korean viewers.
Thailand has now blacklisted the Korean producer from filming in the Kingdom and placed the Thai production management company, known as a ‘fixer’, on probation.
The catching of the clams is a breach of the National Parks Act B.E. 2504 Article 16 (3), which prohibits the obtaining of protected species, and the Wildlife Preservation and Protection Act B.E. 2546, which specifies the giant clam as protected marine animal number 11.
The park has filed a law suit against the production company.
