6 K-Dramas That Faced Multiple Controversies And Why

Controversies are always going to be a topic affixed to various art forms, especially ones that are directly or indirectly related to and draw inspiration from real-life experiences and historical events. Although many dramas have a disclaimer noting that the series is purely a work of fiction and not necessarily related to real-life figures and events, in a bid to put a damper on any errors, scandals, or controversies that might arise from various moments in the series, many times, these disclaimers have little to no effect as frankly, no work is purely fictional and there will always be a reference, an event, a figure, or a story, that serves as a source of inspiration for these works either in a subtle or big way.

In the last couple of years, K-Dramas has had its own fair share of controversies, either surrounding its plot, cast, historical references, and even its use of PPL. These controversies have elicited a wide range of responses from the public, with many either creating and signing petitions, drawing the Government's attention and reaction to others simply boycotting the series.

This drawback no doubt always has its effect on the dramas as well. Some dramas either stop production and have to reshoot a major part (if not all) of the series and others just stop entirely, with the series, regardless of where it was at the time of production or even released being canceled.

For various reasons, here are some of the famous K-Dramas released in recent years that have faced controversies.

1. "River Where The Moon Rises"

The historical drama was poised to make a real impact in the K-Drama world back in 2021. With a gripping storyline and a cast of talented and popular rising stars, it had already started gaining prominent attention, even before the release of its first episode. However, after its airing, the main lead JiSoo was faced with a controversy which led to a halt in the airing schedule of the series.

Prior to this, JiSoo had been regarded as one of the fast-rising actors whose flexible acting talents were top-tier and thereby posing him as one of the actors to continue the Hallyu wave. However, with the scandal, his meteoric rise in fame turned into a downward slope ride as he duly began to lose his popularity. He wasn't the only one who suffered greatly as the production of the drama was affected as well.

It was revealed that he would be replaced with another rising actor Na InWoo and even though as at that time, they had shot all the episodes of the series with JiSoo, they would have to reshoot the scenes he appeared in with Na InWoo. A no small feat as JiSoo was the main lead of the series, which meant that he was in at least 90% of the scenes in the series.

Although he denied many of the claims and his own agency has released statements regarding him being wrongfully accused and how the accusers have come out to apologize, he still released an apology to his victims, fans, and the production crew of the series for the backlash they had suffered following the controversy, while owning up to his actions as well.

2. "A Man Who Dies To Live"

The case of scriptwriters and production crews generally failing to do proper research, especially when referencing other countries' cultures or religious practices has become a consistent topic in K-Drama. And one that perhaps needs to be paid even more attention to. We further delve into this topic in an article which you can read below.

While it is a welcome idea for K-Dramas to infuse stories or settings from other countries in various series, it is also important that these series project the fact and not just an assumed version of what the writers believe it to be. Especially taking into consideration that these series would be watched by individuals from these various countries who would most likely be offended by the wrongful portrayal of their country or religion. One of the dramas that fall within this bracket is "A Man Who Dies To Live".

The 2017 MBC comedy series would've readily been received as a light-hearted series with hilarious moments that many could enjoy if not for the controversies that followed it. Its storyline was set in the fictional country of Bodoantia located in the middle east. However, even though it is "fictional" with seemingly no relation to reality, where it falls short is its referencing and the use of real cultural and religious symbols.

In its poster, the main lead is seen seated with his legs crossed while his foot is hung very close to what is projected to look like the Quran. In the drama, he is seen drinking wine in the morning and in a scene, there were two female characters dressed in Bikinis and Hijab. These actions really angered a lot of Muslims who duly felt that their religion was being disrespected and called for a boycott of the drama.
MBC swiftly responded by releasing a statement and re-editing the scenes from its 5th episode.

3. "Joseon Survival Period"

TV CHOSUN

Another drama whose controversy didn't revolve around its storyline or production but one of its cast is "Joseon Survival Period". The historical drama had a stellar cast of actors who were very popular in Korea at that time. One of them was Kang JiHwan, a big-name star who had played lead roles in various successful dramas like "Lie To Me", "Big Man", and "Children Of A Lesser God".

Playing yet another lead role in the drama "Joseon Survival Period", the drama had already aired half of its proposed episodes when its main lead Kang JiHwan was arrested for sexually assaulting two of his company's employees. He immediately withdrew from the drama and admitted to his crimes, but his controversy also affected the drama as the production had to cut down the proposed 20 episodes to 16 and replace him with another actor. The production company sued both Kang JiHwan and his agency for claims of restitution and as of October 2022, the court ruled in their favor.

4. "Joseon Exorcist"

SBS

In 2021, "Joseon Exorcist" was perhaps the most anticipated drama to be released as judging from its teasers alone, fans' excitement for the drama was high. With an amazing cast and production value attributed to the drama, many could already predict that it would be a hit, even before its first episode aired.

Things began to take a bit of a scary turn when it was released that some of the actors had suffered injuries on set and the production had to be delayed a bit. However, fans' expectations and interest were unwavering high as many expectantly waited till its release. It gained a lot of viewership in its first 2 episodes, ratings that would've been considered a huge deal if not for the controversies that followed suit.

Many viewers were expressively angered and disappointed by the huge historical inaccuracies portrayed in the series and the use of Chinese props in a story that is set in the Joseon dynasty. Thousands of complaints and petitions were made to the government and Korean Communications Standards Commission.

And even though SBS issued an apology with the promise of removing scenes that were historically inaccurate and the Chinese props, the backlash had been too great, so great that many of the sponsors had removed their adverts from the series. As a result, the series was canceled just after 2 episodes. Some fans begged for it to be moved to a web platform, which relatively has fewer restrictions and censorship but as of the date of this article, there is no news of this, and perhaps, rightly so too.

5. "Mr. Queen"

tvN

By December 2020, all everyone could talk about was the hit historical comedy series "Mr. Queen". The drama was greatly received by many for its comic, especially in a year that was riddled with various difficulties.

However, the relief it brought was not enough to shield it from the controversy that would arise from the series. Firstly, many were disappointed with the inaccurate use of a term that describes a national treasure, the Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty, and the fact that the drama was a remake of the Chinese drama whose author had said some negative things about Korea in the past.

Its production company tvN released an apology about the controversies, sighting its sincere regret over the misappropriate use of the term and also stating clearly that what it purchased was the right to remake the web drama and not the novel written by the said author. These occurrences still earned a bit of mixed reactions from viewers, some of whom understood and carried on with the series and others who simply thought that a production company needed to do its due diligence, especially when citing historical references and real-life events.

The series would continue to air and gain more popularity and earn high ratings till its final episode in February 2021.

6. "Snowdrop"

JTBC

"Snowdrop" was one of the most anticipated K-Dramas in 2021 as it marked the acting debut of BLACKPINK's JiSoo and fans were breaking with excitement to see the kind of colors she would show as an actor and the kind of chemistry she would have with her main lead, famous actor, Jung HaeIn. However, every form of positive thought that had been affixed with the series turned soar when criticisms surrounding the setting of the series began to arise.

Set in the year 1987 when students were rising against the military government, many were aggrieved with the idea that one of the main leads, (Jung HaeIn's character) was a North Korean spy who had sneaked into the dorms while running away from the police and hidden by the occupants of the room, who innocently thought he was one of the Democratic protesters who had been harmed while running away from the police. While ordinarily, this scene does play well in the story, in reality, it rightly left a sour taste in the mouths of many who felt that the underlying message would have been misconstrued and give more reasoning to the regime's claim that the cracking down on students was because spies where indistinguishable then.

In response, JTBC released a string of statements, stating the fact that the drama was clearly fictional and in no way set to distort the pro-democratic movement or glorify the actions of the Agency for National Security Planning (ANSP). One of them read "The drama portrays a fictional story about the military regime, the ANSP, and others in power at the time colluding with the North Korean dictatorship and planning a conspiracy to retain their power."

These statements didn't seem to appease the public as petitions were filed to the Blue House and Korea Communications Standard Commission, with a demand that the series be canceled and taken off the air, just like "Joseon Exorcist". It continuous backlash also made many prominent advertisers pull out their support from the series.

However, despite its consistent controversies and claims of historical distortion by the public, JTBC stood their stance by relaying the fact that the series is a work of fiction and the main leads do not play are not portrayed as playing any role in the democratization movement.

The series would continue to air, still recording great viewership ratings all throughout its first season. The Korea Communications Standard Commission would perhaps present a sort of answer to some and reprieve to others when it made a note in March 2022, that upon review of the series, it found no evidence of historical distortion.

Which of these dramas have you watched? Let us know in the comments section below.