'21st Century Prince' Scene Cut

MBC drama '100 Days My Prince' has decided to delete the scene of the king's enthronement in episode 11, which sparked controversy over historical distortion. The drama's side stated, "The ending scene of episode 11 will be deleted, and it will take some time for the deletion to be reflected."

'100 Days My Prince' is a fantasy romance drama set in a constitutional monarchy in 21st-century South Korea. While it achieved success with a peak viewership rating of 13.8%, scenes in the latter half became embroiled in historical distortion controversy. Specifically, in the enthronement scene of Prince Ian (played by Byun Woo-seok) in episode 11, which aired on the 15th, the king was depicted wearing a "guryumyeonryugwan" (a type of crown) and his subjects shouting "Cheonse" (ten thousand years) instead of "Manse" (ten thousand years, a more common expression for long live the king). This was criticized as an expression used for vassal states, leading to public criticism.

In response, the production team stated, "We are taking seriously the viewers' feedback that the scene where the king wears a 'guryumyeonryugwan' and the subjects call out 'Cheonse' undermines Korea's sovereign status." They added, "This issue arose because the production team did not meticulously examine how Joseon's etiquette changed throughout history," and apologized. In addition to the production team, director Park Joon-hwa, writer Yoo Ji-won, and actors IU and Byun Woo-seok also issued apologies.

VANK, the cyber diplomatic mission (led by Park Ki-tae), requested corrections to the scene on global OTT platforms such as Disney+ and Wavve. VANK pointed out, "The expression 'Cheonse' and the 'guryumyeonryugwan' can distort Korea's sovereign historical identity and national symbolic system, and there is a concern that global viewers might mistakenly perceive Korean history as being under the order of the Chinese imperial system."

Consequently, revised subtitles and a version with the audio deleted have been reflected first on Disney+ and Wavve. Following additional editing work, the problematic scene itself is scheduled to be completely removed from VOD and OTT services. VANK emphasized, "Global OTT platforms serve as international textbooks that convey Korean history and culture to people worldwide. A single scene, subtitles, or expression in a drama can be perceived as actual history by overseas viewers, thus requiring more careful historical and cultural verification."