IU and Byeon Woo Seok Issue Apology for Historical Inaccuracies in “Perfect Crown”

As Perfect Crown draws to a close, it holds the distinction of being the most-viewed K-drama globally on both Disney+ and Hulu. Having accumulated 43 million streaming hours so far, the 12-episode series has constantly been making headlines all over the world.

With so many people watching closely, however, it is no surprise that eagle-eyed viewers have their fair share of critique about the show as well. Case in point, when the penultimate episode was released, viewers called out historical inaccuracies during the coronation scene of Grand Prince Lee I-an.

Viewers responded to the show's depiction of Korean history, specifically its portrayal of Korean royalty in a subordinate manner. To address the backlash, following the finale, the show's production team issued a formal apology on the official website.

“To all the viewers who have watched the drama with affection, we sincerely bow our heads in apology for causing concern due to issues with the worldview setting and historical accuracy.”

A particular factor that illustrates this is the chant of the court officials when Grand Prince I-an (Byeon Woo Seok) was ascending the throne. They proclaimed “Cheonse” or “Long live for a thousand years” instead of “Manse” or “Long live for ten thousand years.” While this may seem like a small difference without context, history says otherwise—the former was associated with vassal states subordinate to an empire, and the latter with an independent sovereign nation.

The controversy intensified due to the royal headpiece. Grand Prince I-an wore the Guryu Myeonryugwan, historically reserved for feudal rulers under an emperor, instead of the Sibi Myeonryugwan, worn by emperors of independent nations.

The production team recognizes that these “[damage] our country's status as an independent nation.” They continued, “This occurred because the production team failed to carefully examine how Joseon dynasty etiquette and protocols evolved throughout history. Perfect Crown is a romantic drama that also has the characteristics of an alternate history story, where a fictional world intersects with real historical context. This required careful and in-depth consideration, but our efforts to refine the worldview in detail and examine it more thoroughly were insufficient.”

“Humbly [accepting]” the criticism, they video to modify the audio and subtitles “as quickly as possible in future rebroadcasts, VOD, and OTT services.”

Apart from the production team, the lead actors also issued their apologies for the episode that aired last May 15. Woo Seok, whose character was the center of the coronation scene, posted a handwritten letter on his Instagram on May 18 after having reflected on the matter over the weekend. He wrote, “With a heavy heart, I am writing this to those who have felt discomfort and concern because of the drama.”

“In the process of filming and acting in this drama, I did not think enough about what the historical context and meaning contained in it were and how that might be received by the viewers.” He continued by saying that he has “deeply taken to heart” the situation, seeing the importance of approaching his work “with greater responsibility—considering not only the acting, but also the message and context carried by the production.”

He also took the opportunity to express his gratitude for the audiences that have shown love to the series. “Going forward,” he wrote, “I will become an actor who takes on projects with an even more cautious and thoughtful attitude. I apologize.”

His leading lady, IU, also took to Instagram to express her feelings on the incident after “carefully [reading] each and every comment that many viewers left.” She conveyed, “As a lead actor of the drama, I feel I failed to show a responsible attitude and ended up causing great disappointment, and I am deeply sorry.”

IU addressed the lack of historical verification, saying that her apology comes “without excuse” and with the commitment to think deeper about her acting. “Because this was a drama in which it was important to convey imagination grounded in our own history and the traditional beauty of Korea, I should have read the script more carefully and studied more as an actor, but I did not, and I am ashamed of myself for that.”

Like Woo Seok, she also thanked their loyal viewers for watching the K-drama and for speaking up when it was necessary. “I will always remember the valuable criticism and opinions you sent,” pledging to be an actress “who approaches projects with an even more cautious and thorough attitude.”