Online debate is flaring up over Sang-cheol’s actual job as he appears in the Season 32 “dolsing” (divorced or widowed single) special of the SBS Plus and ENA dating reality program “Sendo SOLO (나는 솔로).”
In the currently airing Season 32 “dolsing” special, Sang-cheol has formed a love triangle with Ok-soon and Gwang-su, drawing viewers’ attention. Born in 1995 and the youngest among the male cast members, he has won over fans with a calm and serious demeanor. In particular, once it was reported that he works at Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), he came to be seen as a so-called “elite” office worker.
Revisiting his past appearance on terrestrial TV... “Hired in a general recruitment at age 19 after graduating high school”
The controversy began when online communities shared footage from a KBS 1TV episode featuring Sang-cheol in the past, “Scout 4.0: Earley Jobter.” In the broadcast, Sang-cheol was introduced as a success story who got hired at Korea Aerospace Industries at 19 right after graduating from a Meister high school, an aviation high school. At the time, he had told his school juniors about domestic fighter-jet manufacturing facilities and emphasized that even high-school graduates can receive a high salary and benefits.
“Intended to mislead as a researcher” vs. “Part of assembly and production”... Why was his self-introduction cut from the broadcast?
Some viewers pointed to Sang-cheol’s remarks in the early episodes of “Sendo SOLO,” including: “I participated in producing the Korea-type launch vehicle Nuriho,” and “I handle key work related to fighter jets and helicopters.” The criticism is that he exaggerated his job so that the public would mistakenly believe he is a highly educated research professional, even though the role is a hands-on production job at the site rather than a research position designing drawings. On the other hand, there is also a strong rebuttal: in the defense industry, assembling parts and production are also core parts of the manufacturing process, so the claim that he “makes it directly” is not false, according to those defending him.
Meanwhile, questions are also growing over why scenes showing Sang-cheol’s detailed job introduction were cut entirely from the main broadcast. Amid differing interpretations—some suggest it was due to security concerns at defense companies, while others say the production took precautions after anticipating the job controversy in advance— the production team said, “We reflected some individual editing requests from participating cast members in a reasonable way.”
With his flashy credentials and TV appearance history putting him at the center of attention, viewers are now watching to see whether Sang-cheol can overcome the job-inflation controversy and finish with a strong showing within the program.
