21st Century Grand Princess Consort OTT Edits Following Historical Distortion Controversy

'21st Century Grand Princess Consort' OTT Edits Following Historical Distortion Controversy

Banck, the Cyber Diplomatic Envoy, announced that the production team of the MBC Fri-Sat drama '21st Century Grand Princess Consort' has edited scenes flagged for historical distortion for its OTT services.

On the 20th, the coronation scene of Grand Prince Yi An (Byeon Woo-seok) in episode 11 of '21st Century Grand Princess Consort' was released with modifications on Disney+ and Wavve. In the scene where subjects shout "Cheonse" during Yi Wan's coronation, the audio and subtitles have been removed. The scene was edited so that the subjects bow and appear to shout something, but no sound is heard, leaving only the background music.

Shouting "Cheonse" during a coronation refers to the etiquette of the Joseon era that signifies the status of a vassal state. However, critics pointed out that using the term "Cheonse" instead of "manse" is inappropriate in modern times when Korea and China are equal diplomatic partners, and the production team reflected this by making the edits. Furthermore, criticism poured in alleging that the use of a nine-tier crown (guryumyeonryugwan) instead of the twelve-tier crown (sibyuryumyeonryugwan) worn by an emperor of a sovereign state depicted Korea as a vassal state of China.

As the controversy grew, the production team, director, lead actors, and the writer all issued apologies.