JTBC’s new drama ‘Seolganghwa’ has been embroiled in a history distortion controversy.
‘Ganghwa Seolganghwa’ is set in 1987 and tells the love story of a female college student and a male spy.
Already in March, some of the content was known during the production stage, raising concerns about ‘disparaging the democratization movement’ and ‘beautifying the Ministry of National Security’.
After the drama was released, the criticism grew rather intense.
In particular, from the first episode, the male protagonist, who is a spy, was saved by the female protagonist, mistaken for an athletic student.
Folk songs were used as the background music when the male protagonist was chased by an Ahn Ki-bu agent.
Some viewers complained that they linked the democratization movement with North Korea according to the logic of the new military administration at the time, and that they justified the violence of the Ministry of Security and Security, which suppressed democratization figures.
A petition from the Blue House to the Blue House to stop the airing of ‘Solganghwa’ has even appeared, exceeding the government’s response standard of 200,000 and gaining more than 300,000 signatures.
It is known that civic groups have notified the court of an application for an injunction to ban the screening, and hundreds of complaints have also been received by the Korea Communications Standards Commission.
As a boycott of the companies involved in the production took place, the companies also announced to withdraw their advertising sponsorship in a hurry, and the related stock price fell, causing the market cap to drop by more than 100 billion won.
The late Park Jong-cheol, who died of torture in 1987, criticized the drama ‘Seolganghwa’ as “obvious distortion” and said, “When dealing with history, we must approach it with caution and responsibility.”
[이현주 / 민주열사박종철기념사업회 사무국장 (MBC라디오 ‘표창원의 뉴스하이킥’, 어제) : 국가가 국민을 향해서 폭력을 휘두르고 국민의 삶을 파괴하는 정권을 유지했던 그런 역사가 너무나 되풀이되었잖아요. 그랬을 때 저희가 그것과 관련된 가해자가 있고 피해자가 여전히 있는 그런 아픈 역사를 다룰 때는 콘텐츠를 만드시는 분이 더한 무게를 가지고 봐야 됩니다. 그래서 철저하게 진실에 기반되지 않고서는 그것을 가상으로라도 배경으로 써서는 안 된다고 봅니다.]
As the controversy grew, JTBC repeatedly emphasized that ‘Seolganghwa’ was not related to the democratization movement.
JTBC explained, “It is a creation that shows the personal narratives of those who were used and victimized by the established powers.”
Some even objected that “if you set too strict a standard for dramas, your freedom of expression may be infringed.”
Despite the controversy, ‘Solganghwa’ is drawing attention as it climbed to #12 on Disney Plus, a global online video service.
However, the controversy is spreading as domestic netizens are protesting not only at Disney’s headquarters but also on famous overseas sites.
A netizen who posted an article on Reddit, an American online community, also wrote, “How would you react if you saw a Nazi-glorified romance on Netflix?”
Previously, in March, the SBS drama ‘Chosun Gumasa’ was canceled after two episodes aired due to historical distortion and Chinese-style controversy.
It is noteworthy whether ‘Sul Ganghwa’ will follow the footsteps of ‘Chosun Gumasa’, or whether it will be able to turn the hearts of viewers who have turned to quelling the controversy.
It’s Anguiryeong in the evening with news.
YTN Ahn Gwi-ryeong (agr@ytn.co.kr)
[저작권자(c) YTN & YTN plus 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]
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