The Reason Behind Harsh Criticism For Korean Drama Joseon Exorcist

Poster of Joseon Exorcist (Source: SBS)

JAKARTA - Friday, March 26, SBS television station announced the cancellation of the Korean drama Joseon Exorcist after premiering on March 22. This was done in the aftermath of the netizens' protests regarding this story.

Since the first two episodes were aired, netizens, especially the people of South Korea, felt that there was a historical distortion described by Joseon Exorcist. The drama is set in the 14th century, where King Taejong presides over the Joseon Dynasty.

At the same time, there are rumors that Joseon made a pact with an evil spirit. It is said that this power is used to control humans.

Her two children, Prince Chungnyung and Yangnyeong are opposites. In the drama, King Taejong is depicted as a leader who kills his people.

Even though in the real world there is no history like that. The public feels annoyed because of the use of real names in this Korean drama.

Even though there is a warning at the beginning of the episode that this K-Drama is a fictional story. However, the use of real names cannot be accepted by the community.

Joseon Exorcist (Source: SBS)

Another trigger for the protests was the property and food from China that appeared in the first episode. Through the previous VOI news, SBS has explained the existence of this product.

Even so, netizens are still worried that international audiences will perceive the Joseon Exorcist story as a true story. The netizen said that in the Joseon period there was no border with the Ming Dynasty.

Many viewers also highlighted the costumes and weapons in the drama. For example, actress Jung Hye Sung is seen wearing a traditional Chinese costume called Hanfu.

The Chinese sword was also widely debated by the audience. A petition on the Blue House website requests that Joseon Exorcist stop airing. This petition has reached more than 184 thousand people.

Competition between Korea and China

For some people, the problems in K-Drama Joseon Exorcist sound trivial. But in fact, there is more to it than that.

Several times the Chinese people claim pickled vegetables as a food of Chinese origin. Apart from that, they also claim pansori (Korean musical genre), kimchi, and hanbok as their cultural heritage.

This feud affected the attitude of the South Korean people who refused to broadcast Joseon Exorcist. Even though as reported by Nielsen Korea, the rating for the first episode of Joseon Exorcist reached 8.9 percent.

But after the protest, the rating for episode two dropped dramatically to 6.9 percent. The public does not accept inaccurate historical stories.

Effect

Due to this controversy, several sponsor brands withdrew their cooperation, from Samsung to KT.

The place where they were filming, namely the Naju region, also refused to continue shooting at that place. The production team itself had leaked that the shooting for Joseon Exorcist was 80 percent complete.

Do not forget the production costs of making this sageuk genre drama, which usually has a large budget that depends on sponsors.

Worried about another drama

After the Joseon Exorcist, the public is worried about some upcoming Korean dramas. Snowdrop, for example.

The synopsis circulating tells of events in Seoul in 1987. A man is said to have fled to a university covered in blood.

1987 was the year of the democratic movement in South Korea. A few hours later, the JTBC television station revealed that there were no historical distortions and the public was only speculating about the story before the synopsis was launched.

Korean dramas, Jirisan, My Roommate is Gumiho, The Golden Hairpin, and When The Day Breaks are also a topic of conversation. Some of the dramas above are cooperation with streaming services from China and ad slots filled with products from China.

Netizens are afraid that later international audiences will feel that what is described in the Korean drama is from China. With the cancellation of Joseon Exorcist, SBS also removed their latest drama teaser titled Red Sky.

Given the same theme, SBS tried to re-check the production so that there was no incident like Joseon Exorcist.

* Read other information about K-DRAMA or read other interesting articles from Tarida Angelina.

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