Lee Min Ho's 'The King: Eternal Monarch' rises to ratings; producer apologizes for controversy
With a slew of Korean dramas being released, Lee Min Ho's SBS drama “The King: Eternal Monarch” continues to dominate its ratings in Korea with an average of 10.3 percent on its recently aired two episodes.
This is the second time the K-drama reached double digits since its second episode reached an average of 11.6 percent.
Currently, it is being pitted against KBS 2TV's weekend drama “Once Again,” tvN's “When My Love Blooms,” and JTBC's “The World of Married” which broke the record for the highest viewership rating achieved by any drama in Korean cable network history.
Controversy
In other “The King: Eternal Monarch” news, it's producer Baek Sang Hoon apologized for featuring Japanese warships that are similar to that of the Korean's bearing Japanese flags in its latest aired episode.
This controversy is in line with the context of the long history of conflict between Korea and Japan. It can be noted that in 1910, Japan made Korea its imperial colony that led to the former using Koreans as forced laborers and “comfort women” during the Second World War.
On May 6, PD Baek San Hoon issued the following statement:
“There has been a lot of criticism over episode 6 that aired on May 2 because of a naval battle scene between the fictional Korean Empire and Japan. The criticism is about the similarity between the Japanese battleships that were edited using 3D modeling and CGI and the currently existing Korean battleships.
“As the director, I sincerely apologize for causing this controversy. But I can tell you that we did not intend to put a Japanese flag on our Korean warships or to mislead viewers into mistaking our Korean warships as Japan's.”
He then explained that the team originally planned to use open-source reference materials needed for the CGI effects but due to the rise of the coronavirus pandemic, it became impossible to shoot overseas.
He added, “Because I am not an expert in warships, I did not recognize the specific characteristics of warships that look similar to each other.
“I sincerely apologize for causing discomfort to the viewers due to my desire in wanting to make up for the incomplete parts using the current situation and lack of time as an excuse as well as my complacency of not checking every detail even though I should have.”
Screen captured from episode 6 of 'The King: Eternal Monarch' / Source: SBS Korea.
Prior to this, the drama also received criticisms over how the fictional world of the Korean Empire used images that are similar to Japanese temples.
The production team behind the drama, Hwa & Dam Pictures, also released a statement regarding the controversial issue.
“The King: Eternal Monarch” features two parallel universes: one with a democracy that is similar to modern-day Korea and one that is an alternative universe in which Korea is an empire ruled by a monarch. Emperor Lee Gon (played by Lee Min Ho) and detective Jung Tae Eul (played by Kim Go Eun) work together to protect the ones they love and close the portal between the two worlds.
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