The drama "Crown princess of the 21st century" became embroiled in a history distortion controversy, leading to the cancellation of a tour program that used its filming locations.
The Wanju Foundation for Culture and Tourism said on the 19th on social media (SNS), "We carefully reviewed a variety of opinions regarding the '21st-century prince story tour,' and after internal discussions, we decided to cancel the program."
The foundation said, "We take the raised opinions seriously and will reexamine the program in a more prudent direction," adding, "We will plan and operate cultural tourism content more carefully so that many people can relate to it."
The foundation had been preparing a regional tourism program in step with the success of Crown princess of the 21st century. The aim was to link Wanju's hanok and local cultural assets as tourism content.
The tour was scheduled to run from the 21st to the 22nd at Oseongje in Soyang-myeon, Wanju County, as well as Soyang Gotaek and Awon Gotaek. These places appeared as the spaces where Grand Prince Ian (Byeon Woo-seok), the male lead in the drama, stays.
However, as Crown princess of the 21st century sparked controversy over distorting history, it ultimately led to the cancellation of the tour program. The drama is set in an "constitutional monarchy Republic of Korea" within a world where the Japanese colonial period and World War II did not occur, but criticism arose that the rituals and attire shown in the series evoke China's emperor-vassal order.
For example, at Grand Prince Ian's enthronement ceremony, the retainers shouted "cheonse (千歲)" instead of "manse" to their sovereign, and the grand prince's mianryu crown was depicted in the form of a "nine-string crown" rather than a twelve-string crown—points that came under scrutiny. Cheonse and the nine-string crown are known as expressions and symbols associated with figures of vassal rank under the emperor in the Chinese imperial cultural sphere.
As the controversy spread, the production team apologized and said it would modify the audio and subtitles of the scenes at issue. Lead actors IU and Byeon Woo-seok also posted apologies on SNS regarding the controversy.