SEOUL: South Korean production companies of JTBC drama series “King The Land” have issued an apology over its controversial portrayal of an Arabic character in recent episodes and vowed to fix the problematic parts, Yonhap news agency reported.
The show, co-produced by npio Entertainment, BY4M Studio and SLL, angered Middle Eastern viewers after the seventh and eighth episodes aired over the weekend portrayed an Arabic prince as a person who drinks and flirts with women.
The hit Netflix Kdrama also came under fire for hiring an Indian actor for the character.
“We would like to express our deep and sincere apology for causing unnecessary inconvenience to our viewers without full consideration of other valued cultures although we have no intention of caricaturing or distorting any particular country or culture in the process,” read the statement posted on the show’s viewer bulletin board Wednesday.
“It has been our sharp realisation that there has been a lack of understanding, experience, and consideration for other cultures. We will do our best going forward to create content that can be enjoyed by anyone regardless of where they are from and what kind of culture they have,” it added.
The production companies vowed to edit the problematic parts and be prudent when making content in the future.
“We will take a thorough look into the part of the video which was considered problematic, and do our best to make sure that right measures are taken,” the statement said.
“We earnestly promise our viewers that more care will be taken down the road so that there will be no inconvenience in viewing our content.”
The show has garnered a total of 17.5 million viewing hours as of June 28, securing its position in the Top 10 list in 36 countries, including South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia, Greece, and Portugal.
