History Professor Publicly Criticizes “Joseon Exorcist” And Their Inaccurate History Portrayal
Professor Seo Kyoung Duk has spoken up, once again in the midst of another China-South Korea controversy.
SBS‘s drama, Joseon Exorcist has been under intense scrutiny for their inaccurate portrayal of South Korea’s history, as well as the Chinese-styled props that were used in the drama. While SBS has since apologized for both issues, the backlash has remained with the Korean public and advertisers have started to pull out from the production.
In the midst of the controversy, renowned history professor, Seo Kyoung Duk has stepped up to address the reasons why Korean netizens are concerned about the drama.
The backlash regarding the drama, ‘Joseon Exorcist’ is getting quite big. Chinese netizens have already begun to defend the drama, saying that ‘it’s an accurate portrayal of South Korea of the time.’ In particular, this provided China with another excuse, as they launched a ‘Northeast Project’ to insist that hanbok, kimchi, pansori, etc. are a part of their culture.
The production crew stated in their apology that these are ‘sensitive times’ and with that, they should have been more careful. As you may all know, Korean dramas have become a global phenomenon and people all around the world are watching them. In this situation, we don’t even have enough time to show off all of South Korea’s wonderful culture and history. With that said, we shouldn’t show the distorted history to our overseas viewers.
We must protect our culture and history ourselves.
— @seokyoungduk/Instagram
This is not the first time Professor Seo Kyoung Duk has publicly spoken up on these issues. He previously addressed the Chinese product placement controversy in tvN‘s drama, Vincenzo. Vincenzo had received backlash for featuring a Chinese brand bibimbap within the drama, which concerned netizens since bibimbap is a Korean cuisine.
These issues arise in the midst of the remaining tensions between South Korea and China. China had previously claimed that kimchi, taekwondo, hanbok, pansori and more were a part of the Chinese culture and not the South Korean culture, angering Korean citizens.
During these sensitive times, drama production companies have been getting called out and put in their place by the public.
