Korean history instructor Choi Tae-seong lamented the historical distortion controversy over Perfect Crown.
Choi Tae-seong posted a long message on his personal social media on the 18th, saying "Another historical distortion controversy. At this point, are we fish?"
The photos released together included the poster for MBC's recent Friday-Saturday drama Perfect Crown and some scenes from episode 11 that sparked the historical distortion controversy. In response, Choi Tae-seong added, "Now please come to your senses," saying, "Nine stripes? The emperor has 12," and "Cheonseon? The emperor has manmanse."
In particular, he criticized in his message, "Right now we are leading the global Korean wave. Drama, movies? It's not just us watching. People around the world are watching. Our image is spreading and being imprinted rapidly. Now we need a system that matches that level. We still do not have that system, or it is at a cottage-industry level. Historical terms. Costumes, lines. Even though historical distortion controversies erupt every time, we are always in the same place."
He continued, "Please respect the historical academia. While producers pay actors tens of millions of won without hesitation, why do they try to settle historical verification costs with only hundreds of thousands of won? Why are they so reluctant? Why do they ignore the time that verification takes for program production?" He emphasized, "I hope the historical academia also creates a historical verification research institute. A research institute that, if producers hand over a work without worry, can safely solve the script, costumes and set all in a one-stop manner."
Finally, Choi Tae-seong added, "I think it's time to stop worrying like this, so I'll make a proposal. Shouldn't performers be able to focus on acting with peace of mind? You worked hard to make a good history drama, but doesn't receiving this kind of criticism sap your energy?"
Perfect Crown ended amid buzz after recording its highest-ever ratings in episode 12 (the finale), broadcast on the 16th. However, in episode 11, at the enthronement ceremony of the male lead Grand Prince I-an (played by Byeon Woo-seok), the headgear shown was the gu-ryu myeon-ryu crown, which is the headgear of a vassal state rather than an imperial nation, and the exclamation was "cheonseon," which refers to the king of a vassal state, not the emperor's "manse." This has sparked fierce criticism that it could provide a pretext for China's history-distorting Dongfeng Project, which claims Joseon was a vassal state.
Choi Tae-seong is a popular instructor who teaches Korean history at EBS and Etoos. He is called "Big Star Teacher" by students and has appeared on many broadcasts, raising his public profile.
The following is the full text of Choi Tae-seong's post.
Phew.. another historical distortion controversy. At this point, are we fish (sorry fish). Right now we are leading the global Korean wave. Drama, movies? It's not just us watching. People around the world are watching. Our image is spreading and being imprinted rapidly. Now we need a system that matches that level. We still do not have that system, or it is at a cottage-industry level. Historical terms. Costumes, lines.. Every time a historical distortion controversy erupts, we're always in the same place.
Please respect the historical academia. Producers pay actors hundreds of millions of won without hesitation while they try to skimp on verification costs with only tens of thousands of won.. Why are they so stingy? Why do they ignore the time verification takes for program production?
I hope the historical academia also creates a historical verification research institute. A research institute that, if producers hand over a work without worry, can safely solve the script, costumes and set all in a one-stop manner. Phew.. it would require investment to be possible..ㅠㅠ
I think it's time to stop worrying like this, so I'll make a proposal. Shouldn't performers be able to focus on acting with peace of mind.. You worked hard to make a good history drama, but doesn't receiving this kind of criticism sap your energy..ㅠㅠ<
[Photos] OSEN DB, provided by MBC, source SNS.
[OSEN]