The Korea Media and Communications Commission said that while conveying its position on the funding and recovery related to production costs for Perfect Crown, it will strengthen the conditions for supporting participation of Korean dramas in overseas investor briefings.
On the 20th, the Korea Media and Communications Commission (KMCC) said, "From the 23rd to the 28th of last month, an investor briefing on the drama Perfect Crown and others was held at the 9th Cannes International Series Festival in Cannes, France," and said, "The amount the KMCC provided for the drama Perfect Crown was a reimbursement for actual expenses necessary for participating in the investor briefing, covering airfare and accommodation for one person (3.1 million won), and we did not support broadcasting production costs."
The KMCC said, "This support was a one-time grant for participation in an event; trailers were screened and investment consultations were held locally, and since it was used in accordance with the purpose of the subsidy, we judge it is not subject to return under the 'Act on the Management of Subsidies' and there are no plans to recover the support funds."
It added, "Going forward, the KMCC will strengthen support conditions for participating works to prevent problems such as significantly distorting objectively verifiable historical facts."
The MBC Friday-Saturday drama Perfect Crown, which concluded on the 16th with its highest own rating of 13.8% (Nielsen Korea nationwide), written by Yoo Ji-won, directed by Park Jun-hwa and Bae Hwa-young, planned by Kang Dae-seon, produced by MBC and Kakao Entertainment, became embroiled in controversy over historical distortion for scenes such as having officials shout the vassal state's "cheonse" instead of the independent state's symbol "manse" at the coronation of Crown Prince IAAN (Byeon Woo-seok), and the king wearing the gu-ryu mi-nyugwan used by Chinese subjects instead of the sip-i-myeon ryugwan used by the emperor of the independent state.
The production team, including director Park Jun-hwa and lead actors IU and Byeon Woo-seok, apologized. Writer Yoo Ji-won apologized, saying, "Under the imagination that the Joseon royal family had continued firmly into the modern era, I wanted to show our traditions and beauty, but in applying Joseon court etiquette to the modern era and depicting a fictional modern royal family, thorough research and verification were lacking. This is my fault for not carefully considering the historical context. In addition, I take all the opinions sent by viewers seriously."
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