‘Law of the Jungle’ team punished

Organizers of the SBS variety show “Law of the Jungle” will be penalized by the company for an incident that saw actor Lee Yul-eum hunt for, kill and eat giant clams while filming the show in the Hat Chao Mai National Park in Thailand, SBS announced Friday.

The director of the company’s entertainment department, chief producer and producer of the show will each receive a warning, probation and a cut in their wage.

The producer who was in charge of the episode will not work on further productions of the show.

The broadcaster deleted all episodes filmed in Thailand on its website and will issue an apology at the beginning of the episode aired today.

“We’re truly sorry for not being fully aware of local regulations,” the company said. “We promise that we’ll do our best to prevent such problems from reoccurring through meticulous research and developing related protocols.”

The problematic episode aired on June 29, with Lee taking three giant clams from the water in Hat Chao Mai National Park. The clams are an endangered species and protected under the Wild Animal Reservation and Protection Act. After the episode was aired, officials from the national park announced that they will be filing police reports against the actor and the company.

However, Lee’s agency Yuleum Entertainment told press that the Thai government has not pressed charges against the actor.

By Lee Jae-lim