Tears and Regret: K-Drama Perfect Crown Director Apologizes for Historical Blunders
The mastermind behind Disney+’s massive global hit is facing the music. In a highly emotional, tearful roundtable interview, Park Joon-hwa, the director of the mega-popular K-drama Perfect Crown, issued a profound apology for the historical inaccuracies that have recently sparked national outrage across South Korea.
On May 20, Director Park faced reporters entirely on his own—without his writer, producers, or star-studded cast—to take full accountability for the controversy. Over the course of the hour-long interview, the director choked up multiple times, broke down in tears, and admitted that the glaring historical errors were a “failure of imagination, not of intent.”
The Nine-Tasseled Crown That Triggered a National Controversy
The backlash against K-drama Perfect Crown erupted during its penultimate 11th episode, which aired last Friday. In a pivotal coronation scene, Grand Prince I-an (played by Byeon Woo-seok) ascends the throne wearing a nine-tasseled crown while his subjects chant “Cheonse!” (Long live a thousand years!).
To international streaming audiences, it looked like a standard royal wedding. But to Korean viewers, it felt like a national humiliation. Here is why the scene touched such a sensitive nerve:
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The Crown: Historically, a nine-tasseled crown signifies a vassal lord or prince subservient to an emperor. King Gojong, who declared the sovereign Korean Empire in 1897, wore a twelve-tasseled crown to assert independence.
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The Chant: “Cheonse!” was a chant reserved for tributary states under Chinese imperial dynasties. A truly sovereign Korean ruler would be greeted with “Manse!” (Ten thousand years!).
By using vassal-state protocols for a 21st-century alternate-universe Korea, the drama accidentally undid centuries of Korea’s fight for sovereignty in the eyes of the audience.
“I Got Boxed In”—Director Explains What Went Wrong
Director Park explained that the team became hyper-focused on creating an alternate fantasy world where Korea never suffered the painful Japanese colonial era or the Korean War. However, in doing so, they blindly copied standard Joseon Dynasty references provided by historical consultants without realizing they were erasing the sovereign history of the Korean Empire.
“I think I had a kind of fixation,” Park admitted during the interview. “When I was told this is how it was done in that period, I felt boxed in by it. But the thing is, in our actual history, there is the Korean Empire. I should have been picking that up and reflecting it. And I didn’t, and that was my wrongdoing.”
From a Global Phenomenon to Bitter Discomfort
The controversy is a bitter pill to swallow for the production, considering K-drama Perfect Crown—which also stars mega-pop icon IU—was an absolute ratings juggernaut. The show pulled in domestic ratings above 13 percent and became Disney+’s most-watched global Korean title within its first 28 days of release.
Recalling an Instagram video of an elderly viewer smiling warmly while watching the drama, Director Park expressed deep self-reproach. “The feeling, the warmth, the healing, that should have stayed with him to the end,” Park said through tears. “And instead, at the end, it came across as discomfort. That is what I can’t forgive myself for.”
Following written apologies from lead actors IU and Byeon Woo-seok earlier this week, the rookie screenwriter Yoo Ji-won is also expected to issue a statement. Meanwhile, Director Park revealed he currently has no future projects lined up as he reflects on the incident.
