The president of a local cable TV channel made a public apology on Wednesday for a fellow anchor who had asked a student during a live interview on Wednesday if she was aware that a classmate had died.

“There is no need for excuses or explanations,” Sohn Suk-hee, chief anchor and president of JTBC, said during its prime time edition.

“The biggest fault lies with me, as I failed to fully inform the anchor (involved) what I have learned (through anchoring for 30 years).”

Sohn was referring to a news broadcast earlier Wednesday, when the anchor Park Jin-gyu asked a ferry victim in a phone interview whether she knew a classmate had died. The question caused the student, who had just been rescued, to burst into tears, abruptly ending the interview.

JTBC News attempted to apologize for the interview via a press release and the channel’s Twitter account after a firestorm of criticism on social media.

By Suh Ye-seul (sys@heraldcorp.com)