Perfect Crown is facing a fierce backlash over historical distortion, and even the pop-up store held as part of the show's planning has entered an early closure process. Despite the production team and actors repeatedly bowing their heads, some fans continue to voice opposition over the deletion of problematic scenes, fueling another controversy.
Recently the organizer of the Perfect Crown pop-up store sent notices of schedule changes to advance registrants. It was originally planned to run for 10 days from the 19th to the 28th, but the schedule was shortened to the 25th. Merchandise sales will also operate only until the 23rd, and for the following two days only the exhibition space will be maintained.
The organizer apologized, saying, "Due to on-site operational reasons, we have changed the schedule and operating format," but inside and outside the broadcasting industry the dominant interpretation is that the recent historical distortion controversy and the sharply worsened public opinion influenced the decision.
The controversy began with the ending scene of episode 11, which aired on the 15th. In the drama, Grand Prince Iaan (Byeon Woo-seok) wore the "guliumyenryugwan," interpreted as a symbol of a vassal state, instead of the "sibimyeonryugwan," the symbol of an independent state's ruler, at his enthronement ceremony, and retainers shouted "cheonse cheonse cheoncheonse" instead of "manse," which became problematic. Viewers strongly criticized that the direction could provide a pretext for China's Northeast Project claims. In particular, because the content is accessible to overseas viewers through global OTTs, concerns about historical awareness grew beyond a simple verification error.
Ultimately, the production team issued an official apology, and the problematic scenes were decided to be deleted and edited for rebroadcasts and OTT VOD. After the director and writer apologized, lead actors IU and Byeon Woo-seok also posted apologies, showing a responsible stance.
But another controversy followed. Some fans opposed the scene deletions. On some online communities, reactions continued saying, "It's not historical fiction but modern fantasy, so why delete it?" Meanwhile, other viewers countered, "They should have fixed it sooner," and "Even in a fictional setting, historical symbols shouldn't be used lightly."
What is particularly criticized in this controversy goes beyond affectionate defense of the work to a casual attitude toward the historical context itself. Critics say that even in a fantasy world, if actual historical symbols and expressions are borrowed, there needs to be consideration of how that might be perceived. Korean history lecturer Choi Tae-seong and Professor Seo Kyoung-duk also strongly expressed concern, saying, "It could provide a pretext for the Northeast Project." They warned that the moment historical symbols are consumed like mere props, the issue becomes one of real historical awareness rather than imagination within the work.
With the lead actors having apologized, some fans' reaction of "let's just move on" leaves a bitter aftertaste because it can be seen as overlooking the historical issue itself rather than protecting the work.
[photo] Perfect Crown
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