Due to the fact that China is using its vast resources to sway public opinion and further demonise its political enemies through homemade as well as foreign movies, a lot of people have taken umbrage.
The latest title caught in this controversy is one of VIKI’s current offerings, Joseon Exorcist. According to my favourite gossip news site, soompi, the production team has apologised for the drama’s “historical inaccuracies.” A drama about zombies veered off history’s timeline, it would appear. Of course, this is just the official press spin to divert attention from their alleged China-infused capital.
How so? I thought it was the netizen’s wrath and more a point of national pride. Of course one could argue what historical accuracy has to do with a fantasy drama, but that is a topic hardly to come by with those netizens. I often wonder how far they need to go, but since I am unable to match national pride with any fantasy content I am not one to understand the problem these people have. When it comes to freedom of speech it is the same for me when it comes to the work of the writer. A writer is free to chose what to write about and how, the public can chose to read or not, but this kind of “criticism” to me is nothing more than censorship.
I can’t say much about the drama, didn’t watch any of it, so this is just a general statement of mine.
Just a speculation. It could just be nationalism. However, there is a history of Korean Christians having specific hostilities directed against the indigenous religion of Korea.
It’s so upsetting and I also don’t quite get the deal. As far as I understand it they portray King Taejong and his son King Sejong who invented Hangul. Very important people in Korean history so they are portrayed in a lot of period kdrama. This time they where zombies and there was a Gisaeng, which you see a lot in period kdrama a lot too, wearing some Chinese inspired clothes serving Chinese food. I understand you might not like to see an important person as zombies but it’s fiction? So it’s clear this was not real?! And there always has been Chinese influence in Korea, before King Sejong invented Hangul they used Chinese symbols to write Korean called Hanja. Some very old Korean literature is still in Hanja and I believe to some point people learned Hanja in school back in the day. After Hangul was already invented.
All in all I don’t get the fuss, those knetz are overly sensitive or are Koreans in general this sensitive about this? If so how come period kdrama seem to be popular?
But it’s a rollercoaster in kdrama land. First a kdrama (Dear M) postponed because an actress was acused of bullying and later turned out that she was actually the victim being bullied in school, then Ji Soo had to be replaced in river where the moon rises because he was a bully and now this… what’s next I wonder…
Next is “Snowdrop”, it’s scheduled for July and netizens are already complaining, because the drama plays in 1987 and both leads have names of real persons/students of this period. The lead will play a student, who is an activist, but maybe a spy and this angers right now people, who are complaining the history will be changed and tarnished by this drama.
I’m shocked and scared, that netizens in Korea have so much power and this is a kind of censorship, which doesn’t fit to a democratic country.
As you wrote this - it seems you want to state this as a fact. However …
Is a different matter, if you do speculate about something I ask of you to name it, the net is full of speculations not marked as such and people might take it as a fact, so please be precise about it in future. Thank you.
I did not watch the two episodes that were aired but my understanding is that much of the controversy has to do with prominence of Chinese elements in those two episodes and disrespectful depiction of beloved King Sejong (creator of Hangul) and King Taejong. As to the Chinese influence, perhaps these articles might shed some light on why the Knetizens are so upset.
I understand that back in time it was hard for Koreans fighting against the Chinese an Japanese and being under their rule. I might be wrong in this but I thought that being under Japanese rule, the Japanese wanted to force their culture upon Koreans an erase their culture was one of the triggers that did also eventually lead to the Korean war. And till this day an island is still a very sensitive topic because both countries claim it as their land. But as far as I know this never has been such a big issue leading towards cancelling a whole Kdrama. Maybe there was and I don’t know.
I do know that years ago with Joseon Gunman people complained too but that kdrama was never cancelled.
It’s still a sore spot in history and being under Japanese rule wasn’t that long ago but when I read those things I sometimes wonder should I be angry at Germany still after what happened?!
I agree in that they shouldn’t have used historical figures. It’s a fantasy drama, after all. Just make up some names and be done with it. And lay off the Chinese food. Koreans are picky eaters, it seems.
I would definitely be careful with this. Korea is still experiencing the effects of the Japanese colonization because it led to the Korean War (which China was a part of) after Japan’s defeat in WW2. The country was decimated, split in half, and families were torn apart. Its a war that had some of the worst civillian casualties in human history. It still effects the current generations who are alive. Even our favorite K actors, and other men still have to enlist in the military because they are still at war.
Korea is a country with great national pride because of this. The fact that they are where they are now is a complete wonder; an incredible feat. The Korean Wave is incredible.
I think the biggest issue is the clash between the international money and the domestic fans. The Korean Wave is a great source of economy and has boosted Korea, but it is alive because they are opening up and going international. They need to figure out how to balance the two. Internationals can’t understand when things like this happen. Do they stick with national pride? or do they make more money? and so far they are choosing national pride.
I must say, though, all of these “scandals” (bullying, props, etc.) are turning me off a bit to the whole thing. The power of the netizens can ruin lives in an instant. Now theyre trying to cancel Mr. Queen after the fact? Its too much and makes the whole experience less enjoyable.
Yes I know it’s still a sensitive topic which is totally understandable. I would be mad too if other countries would invade my country, take over and wanting to erase our history and make me and others lower class citizens etc. And it hasn’t been that long ago, families are still torn apart and might never be together ever again.
But it’s a bit confusing as there always have been Kdrama covering these sensitive topics. Or gave a twist to them. And although there have been complains before about those Kdrama I don’t know any that was really cancelled over it like Joseon Exorcist. I think nobody of that production team, cast and crew meant any harm or wanted to deny Korean history. It was just fiction with a twist on history.
Yes I definitely agree that this is a tough reaction to fictional television. I just hope they have the same vigor when it comes to more important issues as well
Replace Korea with the US and you pretty much have the same statement, with companies falling over themselves to try and appease the Twitter mobs. Instead of learning, growing and moving forward, we’re now going back (and backwards) desperately trying to erase anything and everything that might even be deemed “problematic” to censor the past according to todays hypersensitive standards, now everyone is walking around on eggshells.
Japan and China are two pairs of shoes for Korea and I don’t know, what Germany has to do with this topic.
China and Korea have and had so many things in common, so in the times of King Taejong it was pretty normal, that the clothes, furniture and ornaments were similar. Joseon was “brandnew” and the Hangul wasn’t even established. During the former Goryeo dynasty it was common, that the kings and princes had to marry Chinese princesses. So the royal Korean families and nobility wasn’t even pure Korean, but Manschurian (it was the Yuan Dynasty) and also Kitan (Kingdom Liao, which invaded Goryeo two times). As an international viewer, I can’t understand, why people react so sensitive, because this is part of their history and their inheritance and they can’t cut the Chinese legacy out.
Japan and Korea is another topic, after what happened during WW 2 with the Comfort Women when over 200,000 women were literally enslaved. And this was not the first time, in the Ceramic Wars Japan enslaved estimated more than 200,000 artists and potters, which had a huge influence on the famous “Japanese pottery”. But during this war the goal was to rob skills and knowledge, in the WW2 the goal was to destroy the nation of Korea, to break their pride and soul, so they forced the women into sex camps, even young girls of 10 or 12 years. A very dark spot in Japanese history and a topic which is far away of being resolved, since the Japanese government has deleted all information about this from the history books in school and does not acknowledge their guilt.
In 2020 a statue of a comfort woman was put up in Berlin, this is the first in Germany and there was a huge discussion, even the Japanese Government with Katsunobu Kato demanded to remove the statue. I’m very proud that the Government in Berlin refused and kept the statue.
veered off history’s timeline, it would appear. 
Of course, this is just the official press spin to divert attention from their alleged China-infused capital.
