“How can you distort King Sejong?”... YG Entertainment eventually closed down its business
March 2021. After the SBS drama 'Joseon Exorcist' aired, there was a huge backlash. Protests from viewers poured in. The gist of the criticism is that China's 'Northeast Project' logic, which seeks to incorporate Korean history into its own history, was implanted throughout the drama. A representative scene in episode 1 was where Grand Prince Chungnyeong (Sejong) of the Joseon Dynasty served moon cakes, Chinese dumplings, and pidan to a Western priest. In the end, it was canceled after only two episodes. This drama was produced by YG Entertainment's drama production company, Studio Plex. YG recently decided to sell this company, which had become a headache.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service on the 2nd, YG Entertainment decided to sell 60% of its stake in Studioplex within the year. Once the sale is completed, the stake will be reduced from 99.9% to 39.9%, and management rights will be transferred.
YG Entertainment established Studioplex in 2017. The purpose is to diversify sales concentrated in the music business. Producer Park Hong-gyun, who created the dramas 'Queen Seondeok' and 'The Greatest Love', was also scouted. However, soon after launch, noise continued to occur.
Controversy over historical distortion arose starting with the drama 'Queen Iron Man' co-produced by this company in 2021. This drama, which is based on the affair between King Cheoljong of Joseon and his queen, Queen Cheolin, aroused controversy as Queen Cheorin's lines in the play included, "The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty are just a piece of paper."
In the same year, Studio Plex also produced the drama 'Joseon Exorcist', written by Queen Cheorin's writer Park Gye-ok. A petition to stop the broadcast from viewers who were angry about the distortion of history by Joseon Exorcist received more than 100,000 signatures. In the end, it was decided to cancel the broadcast after only two episodes.
Suspicion has also spread that the two dramas may have added historical distortions to their productions with the Chinese market in mind. The fact that China's Tencent invested in YG Entertainment , Studioplex's parent company and holds a 4.30% stake, also attracted attention again. As this drama, which cost about 32 billion won, ended, the production company, broadcasting company, as well as the actors who appeared in it, suffered a significant blow.
The drama Snow Ganghwa, co-produced by Studio Plex, also increased controversy. This drama, which featured Jisoo, a member of YG Entertainment's girl group Blackpink at the time, was criticized for depicting North Korea's involvement in the democratization movement in the 1980s.
As problems arose with each drama produced, Studioplex's performance plummeted. The company, which recorded sales and net losses of 16.6 billion won and 2.1 billion won, respectively, in 2021, recorded sales and net losses of 200 million won and 300 million won, respectively, in 2022. Last year, sales and net loss were 800 million won and 16.34 million won, respectively. At the end of last year, the debt ratio reached 800%. It appears that YG Entertainment has finally decided to close the drama business, which only aggravated controversy.
