By Tim Binnall
A new Korean reality show in which purported psychics compete to prove who has the most powerful gift came under fire after it featured a late firefighter's story in a macabre death guessing game. The curious controversy reportedly erupted earlier this month with the release of the series, 'Battle of Fates.' The rather compelling-looking program (trailer featured above) pits 49 self-proclaimed mystics boasting various alleged abilities and skills against each other in a series of challenges to determine who is the ultimate 'fate reader.' Unfortunately for the producers of the show, despite having more than four dozen 'psychics' on the panel, it would appear that no one foresaw the outrage that would swirl around the second episode of the show.
During the program, the 'fate readers' were presented with the photo, name, and birth details of Kim Cheol-hong, one of six firefighters who passed away in a tragic 2001 inferno in Seoul, and challenged to guess how the man had died. Shortly after the program aired, an individual claiming to be the firefighter's nephew took to social media to slam the program, asserting that the family had been misled about how their loved one was going to be portrayed on the show. "The production team explained the program as a documentary honoring heroes and martyrs, which is why consent was given," he explained, "watching shamans guess how my uncle died, with panelists using provocative language and reactions, made me furious."
In response, the producers of the program asserted that they had cleared the use of Cheol-hong's story with his immediate family members, but that some "relatives were only informed about the consent process after the broadcast." As such, the producers indicated that they "humbly accept the criticism" and offered their sincere apologies for the unfortunate situation. Strangely, the controversy surrounding 'Battle Of Fates' is not the first time a Korean psychic TV show has come under fire for similarly exploitative programming. Last May, the program 'Ask Us Anything Fortune Teller' was also forced to issue an apology after it attempted to book the sister of a woman who perished in a sinkhole accident.