Singer and actor IU is having a turbulent 2026. So many bad things have happened in succession that it feels like a curse.
IU's first ordeal was the historical distortion in the drama "Perfect Crown." In episode 11, aired just before the finale, a coronation scene for the male lead Lord Ian (Byeon Woo-seok) was revealed, but instead of an imperial state it showed the gu-ryu-myeon-ryu crown of a vassal state and used "cheon-se," which refers to a vassal state's king, instead of the emperor's "manse." This provoked fierce criticism, with some saying it could provide a pretext for China's Northeast Project—an act of historical distortion that attempts to incorporate the histories of countries in China's northeast into its own history—by claiming Joseon was a vassal state.
Korean history lecturer Choi Tae-seong wrote on his personal social media, "Another historical distortion controversy. At this point are we goldfish? Please wake up now," and added, "Nine strings? An emperor has 12! Cheon-chun-se? An emperor gets manmanse," pointing out the historical distortions in Perfect Crown.
In the end, leading actor IU stepped forward to apologize. IU began, "Over the past few days I have carefully read each and every comment left by many viewers," and said, "As the lead actor of the work, I feel very sorry and my heart is still very heavy that I failed to show a responsible attitude and caused great disappointment to everyone."
She continued, "I reflect and apologize without excuse for not thinking more deeply about the many historical inaccuracies in the drama that you pointed out and for performing without sufficient reflection. Because this was a work in which it was important to convey imagination based on our indigenous history and the traditional beauty of Korea, as an actor I should have read the script more carefully and studied it more, and I am ashamed that I did not. I failed to have a proper sense of the issue in advance. I am sorry," and added, "Thank you to everyone who watched the work to the end and did not hold back your words. I will always remember the precious criticisms and opinions you sent and will approach future works with a more cautious and thorough attitude. I am sorry once again."
But IU's troubles did not end there. Earlier, protests demanding a rerun had followed to denounce the June 3 local election ballot shortage, and some netizens demanded that IU prepay for bread and coffee.
IU prepaid about 700 meals for attendees at the 2024 rally calling for the impeachment of former president Yoon Suk-yeol, and mentioning that led to requests for prepayments that caused her embarrassment.
Some netizens visited IU's social media and demanded prepayments. They left comments such as "Please prepay Starbucks in Jamsil," "Unni, please send a coffee truck to the Jamsil polling station," "Democracy has been destroyed but the election commission is protesting—if you don't prepay isn't that a contradiction?", and "People have gathered in Jamsil because of election fraud. Will you prepay?"
Sensitive issues from historical distortion to political backlash continued, and about two months later she became the focus of another unfavorable issue. IU announced her breakup with Lee Jong-suk on the 10th. With this, the two who had acknowledged their relationship in 2022 and dated publicly have returned to being colleagues after four years. Lee Jong-suk's side said, "It is true that they broke up. They decided to remain good colleagues."
Earlier, at the "2022 MBC Drama Awards," Lee Jong-suk, who accepted the grand prize, hinted at a romance during his remarks by mentioning "that person," and later "that person" was revealed to be IU.
After the agency acknowledged the relationship, Lee Jong-suk described IU, "We were friends for a long time and only now has it become like this. Even as I live my life, a strange friend always occupies a corner of my heart," and added, "As a friend she has helped me think through directions and life dilemmas, been someone I relied on, sometimes like a younger sibling, sometimes like an older sister or an adult, but also a wonderful friend I want to protect."
IU also said, "I am in a relationship. Very cautiously, but yes... this has happened!" and explained, "I have been growing a good feeling together with someone who was a longtime colleague and whom I can rely on. For a long time they have kindly supported me and always told me 'You are cool, you are cool.' They are a reliable and cute person who sent sincere encouragement."
The two were careful to mention each other in public and quietly nurtured their love. But after about four years, their public relationship has ended.
[Photo] OSEN DB
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