"Netflix 2026" Director Bae Jong-byeong spoke about the controversial work "True Education".
On the morning of the 21st at the Grand Ballroom on the 3rd floor of Conrad Seoul hotel in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, "Next on Netflix 2026 Korea" took place. Present were Kang Dong-han, Netflix Korea head of content and VP; Bae Jong-byeong, series institutional sector senior director; Kim Tae-won, film institutional sector director; Yoo Ki-hwan, variety institutional sector director; and actors Jeon Do-yeon, Son Ye-jin, Park Eunbin, Nam Joo-hyuk, and chef Anh Sung-jae.
Marking the 10th anniversary of Netflix launching services in Korea, the heads and directors mentioned the past decade and their vision going forward, and those appearing in person included Jeon Do-yeon in Possible Love, Nam Joo-hyuk in Donggung, Son Ye-jin in Scandal, Park Eunbin in Wonderfuls, and Anh Sung-jae in Culinary Class Wars.
Bae Jong-byeong, series institutional sector senior director, opened up about questions regarding the production of "True Education," saying it was a work based on a webtoon and that they developed it with a sense of responsibility because it deals with stories essential to this era.
"True Education," based on the original webtoon, portrayed supervisors striking students on the cheek as corporal punishment, included racially discriminatory expressions toward people of color, depicted slapping the face of a feminism education teacher as "refreshing," and equated feminist education with anti-communist brainwashing, drawing controversy as a sexist work. It received particularly strong criticism from overseas readers, and in September 2023 it was removed from the North American platform where it had been serialized. Afterward, the original authors, Chae Yong-taek and Han Ga-ram, issued only an English apology, and without further statements domestically they resumed serialization three months later, which drew even greater criticism from Korean users.
Regarding this, Director Bae Jong-byeong said, "We are well aware of criticism and concerns about some episodes in the original work during the production process. We recognized that, prepared carefully, and tried to make the work with a sense of responsibility and a refined perspective," and added, "You will be able to check those parts once it is released."
Meanwhile, "True Education" tells the story of the satisfying and refreshing true education carried out by the Teacher Rights Protection Bureau, established to protect collapsing teacher authority and the education field in Korea due to students, teachers, and parents crossing the line. It is scheduled to be released on Netflix in about 190 countries in the second quarter of this year.
[Photo] Netflix
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