“Perfect Crown,” the MBC romantic comedy starring IU and Byeon Woo-seok that became one of the most-watched Korean dramas of the year, spent its final weeks fending off a very different kind of attention: a national debate over historical accuracy.
The controversy erupted after the Friday, May 15 episode showed Byeon’s character, Grand Prince I-an, ascending the throne while wearing a Guryu Myeonryugwan — a royal headpiece historically reserved for feudal rulers serving under an emperor — while court officials proclaimed “Cheonse” (“long live for a thousand years”), a phrase historically associated with vassal states subordinate to an empire, rather than “Manse” (“long live for ten thousand years”), traditionally used for an independent sovereign nation, according to the Korea Herald.
Critics argued that combining these elements undermined the drama’s portrayal of an independent Korean kingdom, instead evoking Joseon-era court rituals tied to its historical tributary relationship with imperial China. The show’s depiction of the coronation ceremony sparked backlash intense enough that it spilled over into the release of the drama’s script book: ahead of a planned Monday release, publisher O’Fanhouse Studio issued a statement confirming it was revising the disputed ceremonial terminology and would offer preorder customers a corrected PDF along with physical correction stickers.
The production team issued a formal apology on the drama’s official website. “We sincerely bow our heads in apology to the many viewers who have supported the drama with affection for the concerns caused by issues surrounding the worldbuilding and historical accuracy,” the statement read, attributing the error to insufficient research into “how Joseon court rituals and etiquette evolved throughout history.” The team confirmed it would revise the disputed audio and subtitles for reruns, video-on-demand releases, and streaming platforms as quickly as possible.
Remarkably, the controversy did little to dent the show’s popularity. According to Nielsen Korea, the following episode — which aired the Saturday after the backlash began — drew a nationwide rating of 13.8 percent, up from 13.5 percent the episode before, marking a new series high. Disney+, which streams “Perfect Crown” exclusively in Korea, announced separately that the series became the platform’s most-watched Korean title worldwide during its first 28 days after premiering on April 10.
The episode is a reminder of how seriously Korean audiences take questions of historical sovereignty in costume dramas — and how quickly a single ceremonial detail can become a national conversation, even for a show otherwise breaking viewership records.
Source: Lee Yoon-seo, The Korea Herald, May 17, 2026.
