SBS has at last responded to the reports of last night and confirmed that it’s new historical drama “Joseon Exorcist” will be canceled for good.
“Joseon Exorcist” was embroiled in heavy controversy over Chinese props and historical inaccuracy. The issue became bigger after “Joseon Exorcist” episode 1 aired and it didn’t subside despite three statements by SBS and the production team apologizing and promising to do better.
The issue became a sensitive matter due to the tense relationship between China and South Korea as China has been claiming Kimchi and Hanbok to be Chinese, added to that, many k-netizens also criticized the screenwriter for distorting Korean history with the deception of actual historical characters in such a setting.
A petition to the blue house garnered over 100,000 signatures, complaints about the drama exceed the thousands and the public sentiment was heavily negative in regards to the drama. To top it off, about 20 companies pulled their advertisements from the drama, and some filming locations where the drama was shot also distanced themselves from the drama and even forbid them from filming there.
On March 26, SBS issued an official statement to announce they have decided to cancel the contract for the broadcasting rights of “Joseon Exorcist” and cancel the broadcast, after recognizing the severity of the previous incidents.
Unfortunately, SBS has revealed that they’ve already paid for most of the fee for the broadcast rights and that the production company had already filmed around 80% of the drama. This mean both the production company and SBS will suffer massive financial loss due to this
Despite the concerns of SBS in regards to their economic loss, they’ve decided to cancel “Joseon Exorcist” due to the heavy feeling of responsibility as a public broadcasting station.
Source: (A)
