It has been five years since lead actors issued an official apology over a historical distortion controversy following SBS' Joseon Exorcist. Joseon Exorcist was canceled and all episodes were scrapped after problems surfaced in just two episodes, and although IU·Byeon Woo-seok apologized for MBC's Perfect Crown, some are calling for all footage to be discarded.
It is unclear whether Perfect Crown's side knowingly tolerated the historical distortions or truly aired them without realizing, but one thing is certain: confidence in the work among the director, production team and lead actors was quite high even before the broadcast. You can get a sense of the atmosphere just by looking at several remarks made during promotion.
At a press conference on April 6 before the first broadcast, when asked to give closing remarks, IU said, "Parts 3 and 4 are more fun than parts 1 and 2, and parts 5 and 6 are more fun than parts 3 and 4," and added, "Our director promised to make this work a breakthrough hit for all of us. I believe that. I hope you trust us and watch until the end."
Afterward, the four lead actors also relayed comments from main director Park Joon-hwa on the web variety show Salon Drip.
Noh Sang Hyun opened by saying, "I heard from the director that every episode is really fun." IU recalled, "The director said something recently. He had watched all 12 episodes and finished editing them. But he got a bit excited and called. He said, 'We will all become stars.' He said he would make us all stars." Byeon Woo-seok added, "The director told me the same thing. He said, 'This is really so fun.' But since it hasn't aired yet, we don't know the reaction."
IU said, "Anyway, that was the director's opinion," and Byeon Woo-seok expressed firm trust, saying, "The director has been directing for about 30 to 40 years." IU corrected him, saying, "No, not that long. It's been about 20 years," and Byeon Woo-seok quickly adjusted to, "The director has done it for about 20 to 30 years."
Of course those remarks showed affection for the work, and actors who worked hard naturally would have rising expectations while awaiting the result. From the director's perspective, the comments may have been meant to give confidence to the hardworking actors. However, there is regret that before receiving viewers' judgment, the production may have been intoxicated by attention and buzz—talking about 'breakthrough hit' and 'star' internally—and neglected the most important details. After investing more than 30 billion won in production, paying multi-million-won appearance fees, building lavish palaces, using sports cars, luxury costumes and impressive CGI, why was basic historical verification done so carelessly?
While IU and Byeon Woo-seok's chemistry was important in the romantic comedy, focusing only on surface presentation led to an unconvincing development that shook the foundations of the constitutional monarchy, and shoddy verification ultimately triggered a historical distortion controversy. No matter how much imagination is added, portraying Korea in a drama based on our history as if it were a vassal state of China is rightly subject to criticism.
As K-content's status surged and drew global attention, Perfect Crown starred highly influential actors and ranked in the top 10 on Disney+ in 47 countries across Asia, North America, South America, Europe and Oceania. It also maintained the No. 1 spot worldwide (non-English) in the TV shows category during its run. The fact that a work that cost 30 billion won and was loved by global viewers ends with only 'historical distortion' remaining is all the more painful.
Meanwhile, in episode 11 of Perfect Crown, the coronation scene of the male lead Prince Ian (played by Byeon Woo-seok) was shown, but instead of an imperial state there appeared a gu-ryu menryu crown, which is the headgear of a feudal state, and the chant was 'cheonse' referring to a feudal king rather than 'manse' directed at an emperor. This drew fierce criticism that it could provide an opening for China's Northeast Project—a historical distortion campaign that attempts to incorporate the histories of countries in northeastern China into its own—by claiming Joseon was a feudal state.
Korean history lecturer Choi Tae-seong wrote on his personal SNS, "Another historical distortion controversy. At this point are we carp? Now please wake up," and criticized the distortion in Perfect Crown, saying, "Nine lines? The emperor has 12! 'Cheoncheonse'? The emperor has 'manmanse.'"
He continued, "We are now leading Hallyu culture worldwide. Drama, film? It's not only watched by us. People around the world are watching. Our image is rapidly spreading and being imprinted. Now we need a system that matches that status. We still don't have that system or it's at a handicraft level. Historical terms, costumes, lines. Historical distortion controversies keep erupting and nothing changes," and he emphasized, "Please respect the historical scholarship community. While producers spend hundreds of millions of won on actors' appearance fees without hesitation, why try to skimp on verification costs with just tens of thousands? Why are they so stingy? Why is the time spent on verification for program production ignored? I hope the historical scholarship community is given a historical verification research institute. If producers don't have to worry and entrust works to a verification institute, it could safely provide a one-stop solution for scripts, costumes and sets."
[Photos] OSEN DB, each drama poster, Salon Drip capture, SNS
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