Following Song Ji-Hyo and Kim Jong-Kook's controversial departure, SBS has now decided to pull the plug on the hit variety show "Running Man." The show is set to end in February 2017 and will reportedly keep its cast of six until the end of the run.
The fate of "Running Man" was decided after the cast and staff members held an emergency meeting on Dec. 16, Friday. Since both sides do not want to end the show on such a sad note, the officials decided not to break up the current six cast members.
Both Kim and Song then confirmed the good news through a joint statement released to different local media groups. It is said that the two chose to stay until the end, out of their loyalty to the SBS variety show.
"To show the strength of friendship that was built over 7 years and thinking of the fans who supported 'Running Man' for such a long time, I think we have to show them the best finale possible," Kim and Song said in a joint statement obtained by Korea Boo. For the sake of all the viewers, all six cast members pledged to do their very best until the finale.
This comes after producing-director (PD) Jung Chul-Min shed some light on Song and Kim's controversial departure. In an interview with local newsoutlet My Daily, as cited by Soompi, PD Jung said the misunderstandings largely arose from problems with communication.
"It is regrettable that there were misunderstandings among us and people were hurt when we had been getting along so well," PD Jung added. "We asked ourselves, 'It shouldn't be like this, right?' and decided that we would end the show in February together and cleared up the misunderstandings."
Check out the video below for more details about the matter: