Choi Jung-hyun, a cast member of Contract Marriage, has sparked widespread outrage after allegedly secretly filming his on-screen wife, Jung Min-hyun, without her consent and even going through her personal diary. The production team is also facing fierce criticism for broadcasting such a serious invasion of privacy without appropriate scrutiny.
The sixth episode of MBC Every1’s Contract Marriage, which aired on November 2, followed the newlywed life of Choi Jung-hyun and Jung Min-hyun, who are participating in the show’s marriage simulation. Viewers were shocked when it was revealed that Choi had secretly installed personal cameras to record Jung without obtaining her prior consent.
Believing that Choi was simply touching the cameras installed by the production team, Jung told him not to interfere with them. However, Choi continued behaving suspiciously. When Jung questioned him, he casually replied, “These are mine. I wanted to keep some footage for myself, so I recorded a few things.” He added, “You’re probably upset because I filmed you without asking beforehand, right? I just wanted to keep some memories.”
Even after Jung expressed her discomfort, Choi responded, “I really didn’t think much about it. I just wanted to try it. If you want me to delete it later, I will. You’re being very sensitive.” Angered by his response, Jung firmly demanded, “Delete it right now. Give me the memory card. You’re the one who did something wrong.”
In an interview with the production team, she explained, “As far as I’m concerned, even if someone wants to record something, they’re filming me, so I think it’s only natural that they should tell me and get my permission before installing a camera.” She continued, “The fact that he secretly recorded me for two days without saying anything made me wonder whether we have completely different ways of thinking. I even started questioning whether I could live with someone like this. His behavior was so unexpected.”
Eventually, Choi apologized and admitted his mistake. “I’ll delete everything. I was wrong, I admit it. I didn’t think it through,” he said before deleting the footage from the memory card.
However, the controversy did not end with the secret recordings. The broadcast also showed Choi casually looking through Jung’s personal notebook without permission. He was heard saying, “Look at this notebook. Oh, there’s a picture in here.” He then commented, “She writes things down like that, almost like a diary. She really likes cute, little things. She can’t quite ask me about these things directly, so she writes them down or folds them away for me to find.” His remarks raised further concerns about his apparent lack of understanding of personal boundaries and respect for privacy.
Installing cameras to record someone without their consent and going through their private diary are not harmless misunderstandings or ordinary marital disagreements. They represent serious invasions of personal privacy that may even raise legal concerns. Nevertheless, viewers have strongly criticized the production team for treating the incidents lightly, presenting them as examples of a cast member’s unusual personality or simply another source of conflict between the simulated couple.
Following the broadcast, angry reactions flooded the comment sections of related clips and the program’s viewer message board. Online users voiced their frustration, writing, “Secretly filming someone is a crime. Is the production team enabling it?”, “It’s terrifying that he secretly recorded her just to keep the footage for himself,” “He was the one in the wrong, yet he called her sensitive?” and “Installing hidden cameras isn’t quirky behavior. It’s clearly a serious offense.”
Much of the anger has also been directed at the studio hosts, who appeared to downplay the secret recordings by suggesting they could be a “surprise event” or footage intended for a wedding video, seemingly without recognizing the seriousness of the situation. Viewers criticized the panel’s reactions, commenting, “I’m even angrier at the hosts for defending an obvious secret-filming incident by calling it wedding footage,” “It’s disturbing to see the studio try to romanticize potentially criminal behavior,” and “It’s shocking that the production team seems more willing to enable this behavior than protect the cast member.” Some have even urged viewers to file complaints with the Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC).
Meanwhile, Contract Marriage is a marriage-simulation observational reality show in which single men and women who want to get married enter contractual relationships to experience married life in advance and explore the meaning of marriage and the realities of partnership. The program is the latest project from producer Nam Kyu-hong, who previously directed the popular dating reality show I Am SOLO.
Sources: Nate