Controversy over Kim Je-dong making joke from fake story

Comedians often say they “set-up” a joke. Many comedians create jokes from their own true experiences, but they always crave for more entertaining stories. This may be the reason that they create jokes from fake stories. While hosting a military event, Korean comedian Kim Je-dong made a joke that he was sentenced 13 days in prison for calling a four-star general’s wife “ajumma” when he was serving his military duty. However, it turned out to be a lie.

Jokes become wittier by portraying unreasonable and illogical sides of life. Sarcasm is an important ingredient, too. No one will blame a comedian for developing humor based on his or her own experiences, and it does not matter whether they are true or not. On the other hand, using someone else’s story could be inappropriate. For example, your friend would be unhappy about your creating jokes based on his or her episodes. If your satire targets your enemy, it could lead to worse results. Satirical freedom will be respected only when based on a true story, or else it is defamation. It is called “defamatory humor” in Anglo-American law.

Many funny stories circulate around the military as it is a system run by top-down orders, opposed to the general public. Military episodes are hilarious because they are unreasonable. How funny or absurd it could be if Kim Je-dong was confined for calling a general’s wife “ajumma.” Every man who finished his military duty has few episodes to laugh with. Unfortunately, Kim's story was a fake.

When he was demanded to attend a National Assembly inspection over his joke, Kim said, “There is no way to respond if people try to chide someone from making a joke to laugh with." "It is even illegal that a public service worker is called to host an event after work, and this could be a major issue during an inspection,” Kim said in a threatening tone. His reaction is more disappointing than when his joke was turned out to be a lie. People love comedians for developing humor based on irony and paradox of society we live in. However, it should be noted that groundless ridicule can hurt others’ feeling at the same time.