An online petition calling for the suspension of MBC's controversial romance series "Perfect Crown" has surpassed 50,000 signatures, the legal threshold for the National Assembly to review the petition.

Titled “Petition requesting the suspension of a drama accused of historical distortion and China’s Northeast Project controversy and the removal of related content from media platforms” (translated), the petition was posted on the National Assembly’s online petition site on Friday. As of 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, it had gathered 52,344 signatures in support of the petition to move forward.


Having exceeded the 50,000-signature threshold, the petition now meets the requirement to be referred to a relevant standing committee of the National Assembly.

The petition accuses "Perfect Crown" of "indiscriminately" using Chinese-style clothing, etiquette and vocabulary and playing into historical distortions propagated by China's Northeast Project, a state-sponsored research project accused of appropriating Korean history and culture.

The petition calls for the broadcast of the drama to be halted and for all related video-on-demand (VOD) and streaming platform content to be removed.

“I strongly urge the establishment of institutional measures to permanently remove similar forms of culturally intrusive media content in the future,” the petitioner wrote.

Under National Assembly rules, petitions posted on the website are formally accepted as public consent petitions if they receive more than 50,000 signatures within 30 days of publication. They are then referred to a relevant committee for review under Articles 124 and 125 of the National Assembly Act and Article 8 of the Assembly’s petition review rules. After deliberation by a petition review subcommittee, lawmakers decide whether to bring the petition to a plenary session. Measures are taken only for petitions ultimately adopted by the Assembly and deemed to require action by the government or parliament.

“Perfect Crown” ended its run on May 16 with a viewership rating of 13.8 percent. The series is set in an alternate modern-day Korea where the royal family of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) still rules because the dynasty never collapsed under Japanese colonialism and continues to the present day as a constitutional monarchy.

The controversy emerged over a coronation scene for Grand Prince I-an, played by Byeon Woo-seok, in episode 11, which aired May 15.

In the scene, court officials are heard chanting “ cheonse” and “cheoncheonse,” meaning “long live for a thousand years,” as a wish for the prince’s long reign. However, the expressions were traditionally used by tributary states instead of "manse," which means to live for ten thousand years. This drew criticism for not aligning with the sovereignty portrayed in the series.

It also featured a nine-tasseled ceremonial crown worn by tributary kings, rather than the 12-tasseled crown reserved for emperors of sovereign nations. Viewers and some historians criticized the scene, saying it could justify China’s Northeast Project.

The production team later posted an apology on the drama’s official website and said the audio and subtitles for the controversial scenes would be revised for rebroadcasts, VOD services and streaming platforms. Lead actors IU, who played Seong Hee-ju, and Byeon also issued apologies on their personal social media accounts on May 18.

The petition will remain open for signatures until June 21.


This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY CHO MUN-GYU [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]