The bereaved family of the deceased protested against the fact that Luna revealed the name of the late Lee Ji Eun, best friend of Luna and an aspiring singer, as she was mourning. They were protesting against referring the private information of the deceased, who wasn’t a celebrity, without the consent of the family.
On March 3, Luna mentioned the deceased as she appeared on MBC’s Human Documentary People Is Good. During the episode, she expressed her sadness as she lost her close friend Lee Ji Eun, right after she lost Sulli, her former team member.
“(After hearing the news of Sulli’s death) I just dropped down and cried,” Luna recalled. “Right before I heard the news, Sulli texted me ‘I miss you.’ That was the first time she spoke to me informally in 15 years. I felt terrible. I should have approached her first and told her that I loved her.”
Luna went to see her friend. Lee Ji Eun shared the same dream as Luna, but died last year by making the same choice as Sulli. Luna said, “She was my family. We lived together in my house. She was a perfect friend. I can’t possibly understand everything but U imagine it must have been painful for her.” She also confessed, “Why did I sleep? Everything happened in an hour. I couldn’t stop regretting it. I still miss her so much.”
However, after the broadcast, Lee Ji Eun’s sister broke out and wrote on her Instagram, “Sulli was a member of the same group and a celebrity. But my sister was an ordinary person, so why is she talking about her private life in public?” and pointed out, “At least she should have asked the bereaved family for permission.”
“Didn’t you think it would be hard on the family to get our wounds all mangled again as her death became a gossip?” she continued. “’I thought it was IU,‘ ‘I was tricked.’ They are treating my sister’s death like a gossip. Did you ever think of the bereaved family watching and reading this? It’s so unpleasant and I just can’t understand it. Please don’t take advantage of my sister’s death. It was wrong of you even if you didn’t mean it.”
During the episode, the personal information of the deceased was clearly shown to the viewers as Luna was seen mourning at the charnel house. Photos of the deceased and Luna together were also released several times.
When the controversy surfaced, the production team stated, “We have sought the consents from the bereaved family. Luna asked the permission for the broadcast from the family member she is still in contact with.” They also added that “We think that the bereaved family who posted the message didn’t know the details. The production team will contact in person to explain in detail,” during an interview with DongA.
