"Perfect Crown" ultimately led Byeon Woo-seok and IU to abolish the monarchy. After the abolition of the class system, rather than conveying the pure meaning of love, the hurried ending between a chaebol heiress and a charming man left viewers disappointed.
MBC's Friday-Saturday drama "Perfect Crown" concluded with episode 12, which aired on the 16th. Grand Prince IAAN (Byeon Woo-seok) succeeded in abolishing the monarchy with the help of Seong Hee-ju (IU) and, as the last king, removed his royal robe. His happy daily life with Seong Hee-ju, who called him by his ordinary name "Iwan," showed the couple's ending as a "complete couple."
However, despite the successful romance, unease remained stronger than relief. Rather than the pure meaning of love transcending status, the lingering impression of encounters among chaebols who had nothing to lose was stronger.
Although Iwan stepped down from the throne, his wealth remained. The royal assets were turned into a foundation to be managed. Yet he was freed from responsibility. He enjoyed ordinary life, making food while waiting for Chief of Staff Choi Hyun (Yu Su-bin) and Seong Hee-ju, and savoring kiss moments at a baseball stadium date that he could not have had in the past because of decorum. He was the former king who had become the "charming man" that Seong Hee-ju's exes, who once dreamed of succeeding a chaebol, said he would be.
Seong Hee-ju literally had nothing left to lose. She returned as the capable heiress of Castle Group, the nation's top conglomerate, and the only obstacle to him—the distinction of status—was removed by Iwan's abolition of the monarchy. With no restraints left, she came back as a capable chaebol, achieving both work and love and living a life intoxicated by happiness as a successful career woman.
Clearly, the ending of "Perfect Crown" is a typical happy ending of a romantic comedy drama, yet viewers felt the finish was rushed. The romance was wrapped up somehow within a 12-episode run, but that was all. Although it showed the complete overthrow of the class system, the economic power of the "chaebol" remained and even became more entrenched, and viewers could not fully immerse themselves in a coming-of-age story that imagined and transcended a social status that does not exist in reality.
From early on, Byeon Woo-seok's rigid acting and, conversely, IU's overly expressive performance sparked debate about their acting, but what remained at the end of the drama was not the actors' performances themselves but the story's flimsy construction. For the illegitimate female protagonist, the class system could not be a real hardship because the reality of chaebols was too affluent.
Even that title of 'ability' felt like soda-pop packaging; the chaebol heiress's title was also the result of bloodlines acquired by innate entitlement. The male lead, who seemed trapped by the limitations of being the second son with a royal mien, pretended to renounce his vested rights in an ambiguous decision that was more like a palace coup than a revolution. However, he ended up siding with the female lead's real-world class system of being a "chaebol" and fell into being a "charming man."
The once-uncommon bright court culture and etiquette provoked debate because of forced settings due to the limits of virtual reality and insufficient historical verification. It's not that it lacked appeal, but knowing the meaning made it feel like a superficial visual beauty—only the rind of the watermelon was pretty. Moreover, amid the reality where China's Northeast Project issue causes debates over cultural origins for K-content, "Perfect Crown" provided fodder for that controversy.
Of course, every year a visually flashy romantic comedy that pursues outward appearance and settings emerges and wins great love. But when settings become so implausible that they provoke debate over acting ability, viewers are not captivated by mere spectacle. In the end, what "Perfect Crown" left behind was a palace and a chaebol-connected romance that superficially dismantled an artificial class system. For Korean viewers in 2026 who twice impeached the country's most powerful leader, it was ultimately a poor fit.
[Photo] Provided by MBC.
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