Political Desk
Political Desk () is a South Korean news program airing on JTBC. It has a lighthearted, sometimes satirical, approach to political events in South Korea. It is presented by Lee Sang-bok, with Cho Ik-shin, Shin Hye-won, Ryu Jeong-hwa, Park Joon-woo and Baek Da-hye. It airs Monday to Friday at 16:30 KST. History and format. Origins. Kim Pil-kyu had the idea of producing a political newscast, and he drew a cartoon about it, which was posted on the show's official Twitter account. Originally called "Report! Political Meeting at 4:00", it premiered on  April 7, 2014. It was presented by Choi Sang-yeon, with Oh Dae-young, Yang Won-bo, Nam Gung-wook and Lee Sung-dae on the panel representing the ruling party, National Assembly, the Blue House, and the opposition, respectively. Kim initially produced this show before being tapped to produce and host JTBC Newsroom's Fact Check segment later that year. He then became the main anchor of the show's weekend edition following Jeon Jin-bae's departure. Reshuffles. 2015. Starting July 2015, multiple reorganizations were held. Im So-ra replaced Blue House captain Nam Gung-wook on  July 6, 2015. Opposition leader Lee Sung-dae followed suit 18 days later, and Kim Jung-ha joined as the new head of the National Assembly, replacing Yang Won-bo who moved to Lee's vacated position. Announcer Kang Ji-young also joined the show on July 13, 2015 as a fixed member, hosting the segment "Kang Ji-young's Talk Shooting Politics." Yang then stepped down on September 24, leading Yoo Sang-wook to join as the show's new opposition leader. Lee Sang-bok joined the show as its new anchor/moderator on December 14, replacing Choi Sang -yeon, who joined JoongAng Ilbo as one of its new editorial writers. As of this reorganization, only Oh Dae-young was the original member to be on the show. It was later revamped to "Political Desk" around the end of the year. 2016. 2016 also saw multiple reshuffles on the captains' assignments. Oh Dae-young, the program's only remaining original member, stepped down on the broadcast on July 8, along with Kim Jung-ha who was then the head of the National Assembly. Yang Won-bo returned to his original role vacated by Kim on July 11, while Jung  Kang-hyun replaces Oh who was the leader of the ruling party. Jung was the head of JoongAng Ilbo's youth reporting team before joining the program. Later that year, Yoo Sang-wook also departed from his role as opposition leader after he was appointed the head of Social Issues team 2. Choi Jong-hyuk replaces him starting December 21. 2017. The first reshuffle of the year happened following the 2017 South Korean presidential elections. Then-opposition leader Choi Jong-hyuk and then-ruling party leader Jung Kang-hyun swapped places on May 10, 2017 at Lee Sang-bok's  request, making it the first power switch since the show's inception. According to National Assembly captain Yang Won-bo, Jung seemed bitter about giving up his position to Choi, who was the show's youngest member at the time. Another change in its set and graphics happened on November 6, 2017, which was used until May 15, 2020. Towards the end of the year, Shin Hye-won joins the show as its new Blue House captain, replacing Im So-ra who left the show on December 8. 2018. July 13 saw the introduction of new opposition leader Go  Suk-seung, who replaced Jung Kang-hyun following his departure. This year also saw Lee Sang-bok ascend to his new role as JTBC News' press director on November 20, officially replacing his title as director of the second politics division on the broadcast subtitles. 2020. Park Sung-tae and Cho Ik-shin joined the cast on January 6, 2020, following the departure of Lee Sang-bok and Yang Won-bo. Lee left to focus more on his role as press director due to the 2020 South Korean legislative elections, while Yang became the new general manager for JTBC News ' policy team. Park eventually left on May 15, 2020 after over four months of hosting the show. It also became the show's last broadcast to be anchored from the open studio inside Trust Building. Choi Jong-hyuk teased towards the end that Lee Sang-bok might be making his return to the show after he did a reverse triangle gesture that became popular and was used on its opening IDs during his tenure. Park will now be JTBC Newsroom's new weekend editor. In addition, they will be moving to a new studio inside Creation Hall just beside it , and the open studio they used was renovated to be used by "Scandal Supervisor". Lee Sang-bok made his official return to the show on May 18, 2020, while also debuting the show's new set and graphics package. Kang Ji-young's sole segment "Talk Shooting Politics" was abolished on the same day and replaced with "On-site Briefing", promoting her as the show's on-site captain. Lee's former segment "One-cut Politics" made a return on the same day, along with "Shin's Political School" returning on June 3, 2020. It also established two new segments  for each captain slowly, starting with Shin Hye-won ("Minute Call-Call", "New World"), Choi Jong-hyuk ("Check It Out", "A Song For Something"), Cho Ik-shin ("Oh My Gosh, What's Wrong With You", "Cho's Unanswered Questions") and Go Suk-seung ("Ancient People, go! go! Sing!"). There is also "Dajeonghwe Theater", a segment where the captains work together for a skit. Starting on July 20, 2020, Yang becomes the first "Political Desk" member to have his own show with the premiere of "". Captains Choi Jong-hyuk (ruling party) and Go Suk-seung (opposition) left the show on December  4, 2020 following another JTBC News large-scale reorganization. They will be replaced by Ryu Jeong-hwa and Park Joon-woo, respectively. 2021. Starting on May 17, 2021, the show migrated back to Trust Building to prepare for the large-scale JTBC News reorganization scheduled on June 7. Kang Ji-young's "Field Briefing" segment ended on May 18, 2021,marking her final day as part of the cast. She will be joining JTBC's new show Ssulzun Live with fellow alumni Park Sung-tae and Lee Sung-dae, prompting Baek Da-hye to replace her as sub-anchor. This will  also mark their first major format change since its inception, with segments being catered to each captain's characters in the show and the captain titles being abolished entirely. Format. The show's format is more lighthearted in approach than its other newscasts such as JTBC Newsroom, however, it took a more serious turn as Park Sung-tae became anchor/moderator. It is presented in the style of a meeting, as if to plan for a broadcast. The captains sometimes add jokes in their respective presentations, and tease each other, including Lee Sang-bok. Opening theme. The opening theme is  Lee Seung-hwan's "Solo War", from his 2010 album "Dreamizer". When he appeared on the third season of Hidden Singer, he expressed interest in the format of "Political Desk" and decided to let them use the song. Lee picked the song himself because of its rock sound and lyrical meaning. Segments. The fixed segments are those which appear regularly on the program, or are regular segments of the main anchor and field captain. The recurring segments are only added in by the captains for fun. Presenters. "Political Desk" premiered on April 7, 2014, hosted by Choi Sang-yeon, featuring  Nam Gung-wook as Blue House captain, Yang Won-bo as head of the National Assembly, Oh Dae-young as head of the ruling party, and Lee Sung-dae as head of the opposition. Currently, the cast consists of anchor/moderator Lee Sang-bok, with Shin Hye-won, Cho Ik-shin, Ryu Jeong-hwa and Park Joon-woo representing the Blue House, National Assembly, ruling party and the opposition, respectively.