MBC ‘21st-Century Grand Prince’s Consort’

The production team of MBC drama <21st-Century Grand Prince’s Consort> apologized for the recent controversy over historical distortion.

On the 16th, the production team posted on the official website, stating, “We sincerely bow our heads in apology for causing concern due to issues with the worldview setup and historical verification.”

The production team said, “We take seriously viewers’ criticism that the scene in which, during the enthronement, the king wears a ‘guryu myeonryugwan’ and retainers chant ‘Cheonse’ undermines our country’s sovereign status,” adding, “This occurred because we failed to carefully examine how Joseon’s rites changed over the course of history.”

MBC ‘21st-Century Grand Prince’s Consort’

They continued, “‘21st-Century Grand Prince’s Consort’ is a romance that also has the character of an alternate-history drama, and while careful and in-depth consideration was needed where a fictional world intersects with real historical context, we fell short in refining the worldview and examining it more thoroughly,” adding, “We humbly accept viewers’ reprimand and will move as quickly as possible to revise the audio and subtitles of the relevant parts in reruns and in video-on-demand (VOD) and over-the-top (OTT) service videos.”

In episode 11, aired on the 15th, the enthronement scene of Grand Prince I-an (played by Byeon U-seok) broadcast, without filter, serious elements of historical distortion that undermined the Republic of Korea’s sovereignty. Even though it was the accession of the new king of the Republic of Korea under a constitutional monarchy, he brazenly wore a nine-string ‘guryu myeonryugwan’, signifying a vassal of the Chinese emperor, instead of the twelve-string ‘sibimyeonryugwan’, a symbol of a sovereign state.

In addition, rather than manse, the symbol of an independently sovereign nation, the retainers attending the enthronement delivered the absurd line“Cheonse! Cheonse! Cheoncheonse!”, which follows the etiquette of a vassal state.

The shallow understanding of history, hidden behind a massive production budget of 30 billion won and a star-studded cast, has left a painful blot on viewers around the world who encounter Korean content through global OTT platforms.