"Heaven's Blessing and the Nine-Row Crown: VANK Joins the Call"... Urges Disney+ to Correct Historical Distortion in 'Perfect Crown'

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[Financial News] The Voluntary Agency Network of Korea (VANK), a cyber diplomacy group, has launched a campaign to correct historical inaccuracies in Disney's response to the controversy over MBC's Friday-Saturday drama 'Perfect Crown.' It also plans to promote a global civic movement to address historical errors in Korean dramas and video content.
On the 17th, VANK announced on its Instagram account that it had launched the campaign, saying, "The more widely Korean dramas are consumed around the world, the greater the influence of their historical portrayals," and called on global platforms and broadcasters to respond responsibly.
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The scene in question was the king's enthronement ceremony aired on the 15th. In the scene, set in a 21st-century constitutional monarchy in Korea, the king wore a nine-row ceremonial crown, and his officials shouted "long live" instead of "ten thousand years."
According to VANK, the proper expression for a monarch of an independent sovereign state is "long live." However, the drama used "ten thousand years," a phrase that could be interpreted as one used in vassal states under the Chinese imperial system.
VANK pointed out that this is a serious problem because it could create the impression that Korea is accepting the logic of China's so-called Northeast Project, which seeks to incorporate Korean history into China's own historical framework.
It also said the historical accuracy of the monarch's crown was problematic. To symbolize an emperor of an independent sovereign state, a 12-row crown would be appropriate, but the nine-row crown shown in the drama could be seen as resembling the image of a feudal lord serving the Chinese emperor.
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VANK said the bigger issue is that, as of 3 p.m. on the 17th, the audio and subtitles for the scene were still being streamed unchanged on Disney's global OTT service, even though the scene drew heavy criticism over historical distortion immediately after broadcast.
Earlier, when the historical accuracy controversy grew, the MBC production team said, "We apologize for causing concern over the show's world-building and historical accuracy issues," and announced that it would revise the audio and subtitles of the problematic scene for reruns, VOD, and OTT services.
The group also warned that the distorted historical language could spread beyond borders to viewers around the world, especially since the work is being offered with subtitles in 10 languages, including Korean and Japanese.
VANK said, "If overseas viewers encounter the scene through a global OTT platform, they may develop a distorted understanding of Korea's history and national identity."
In response, VANK sent an official letter to Disney requesting corrections to the audio and subtitles. It also said it would launch a global civic movement with K-content fans around the world to correct historical errors in Korean dramas and video content.
Park Ki-tae, head of VANK, said, "Korean content on global OTT platforms such as Netflix and Disney has a stronger influence than foreign textbooks or encyclopedias," adding, "Even a small expression can be taken by people around the world as Korea's actual history, so much more rigorous fact-checking is needed."
VANK previously corrected instances in the French subtitles of Netflix's 'The Bride of Habaek' and the German subtitles of the film 'Time to Hunt' where the East Sea was labeled as the Sea of Japan.
y27k@fnnews.com Seo Yoon-kyung Reporter