Korea’s First Ever Female News Anchor Reveals Her Incessant Workplace Bullying At MBC

She was also the longest-running female anchor.

Baek Ji Yeon, a former anchor and one of the most prominent faces of MBC, recently opened up about the workplace harassment she had to endure in the early days of her career.

Baek appeared as a guest on MBC’s Radio Star on May 21, KST, and looked back at her days as an anchor on Newsdesk. She holds the title of the first, youngest, and longest-serving female anchor on South Korean television. Reflecting on her long career as an anchor, Baek humbly admitted that she never expected to last that long on the job.

I did it for 8 years and 3 months. I didn’t expect it to last that long. I thought they would replace me at some point.

— Baek Ji Yeon

Baek, who started her job as an announcer in 1988, marveled at how far Korean society had come, highlighting the regressive mindset she had to fight against as a female anchor back then.

Korea has developed incredibly over just a few years. Back then, it was a time when people still said things like, ‘How dare a woman,’ or ‘If the hen crows, the household will fall.’

— Baek Ji Yeon

Recounting her start at MBC, Baek mentioned that at that time, the network was holding an in-house audition to find a female anchor. At that time, she was just a probationary employee at the company, freshly graduated from university. Though she wasn’t even eligible to take part in the auditions, she was instructed to attend and observe the seniors. “But I ended up winning first place,” she revealed. The company was initially skeptical and voided the result. But when they held a second audition, Baek won again.

Despite securing the job on her own merit, Baek had to face groundless rumors speculating that she got in through the back door.

Since my last name is Baek, a rumor spread that I was the daughter of Baek Gom, a big investor in the stock market. They said I had pressured the company with strong financial backing, and even that I bought ten years’ worth of advertising.

— Baek Ji Yeon

There was also significant pushback within the company. Baek recalled a particularly hurtful statement by a senior, who told her to her face that he didn’t think she was deserving of the job.

One senior even said to my face, ‘I was against this. I don’t know why you were chosen, but this is a gamble. If you last more than six months, I’ll eat my hat.’

— Baek Ji Yeon

These adverse conditions, however, could do nothing to break her resolution. Baek Ji Yeon motivated herself to be stronger and aim higher instead. “ I thought, ‘I won’t fall. I’ll become the lead anchor. I won’t let anyone tell me to step down.’ Instead of poison, it became a kind of medicine for me.”

Baek Ji Yeon was an anchor at MBC until August 1996, after which she worked with all major broadcasters in Korea, including  KBS2, SBS, and YTN. In 2023, her son married the second daughter of HL Group Chairman Chung Mong Won, making her part of the extended Hyundai family.