K-Drama “River Where The Moon Rises” Changed Its Original Ending For International Fans—Here’s Why

KBS K-Drama River Where The Moon Rises has changed its ending, and it was all because of the drama’s international fans!

River Where The Moon Rises aired its last episode on April 20, 2021, and fans were in love with the happy ending! The K-Drama concluded its final episode on a happy note with the main character On Dal (played by Na In Woo) reuniting with Princess Pyungkang (played by Kim So Hyun)!

But the K-Drama was initially supposed to have a very different ending! It was actually supposed to end with On Dal’s death, but at the last minute, the finale script was changed to the current, happier ending! A drama official revealed that this ending was decided upon for two reasons; the first reason was because of the change of cast, from actor Ji Soo to Na In Woo!

Originally, it was supposed to end with a sad ending with Ji Soo, but after it was switched to Na In Woo, the ending was changed.

—Drama Official

The second reason was because of the amount of love international fans had shown the K-Drama and Na In Woo! Turns out, after Na In Woo joined the cast, fans of the actor and the drama grew along with their hopes for a happy ending. The drama, which has been sold to 190 countries, also received many international requests for a happy ending, and the K-Drama crew decided to make it come true!

The drama official also revealed that this wasn’t the only scene that was changed; since Na In Woo joined the cast, many other scenes were fixed or edited in order to fit the actor more!

We added new scripts and the writer also fixed some lines so that it would match Na In Woo more.

—Drama Official

Although the drama started off with some unfortunate events, they were able to create a whole different drama with the addition of Na In Woo! Expressing admiration for director Yoon Sang Ho and Kim So Hyun, who had to reshoot almost every scene in the 6 episodes that were previously aired, a staff member joked,

You could say that director Yoon Sang Ho and actress Kim So Hyun filmed two dramas for this.

—River Where The Moon Rises Staff Member

Cheers to the K-Drama and staff for a great ending!