Perfect Crown · S1E12

They'll write checks for hundreds of millions of won for actor salaries without blinking, but somehow a few hundred thousand for historical research is too rich for their blood? They'll spend months on everything else but can't spare a single day for proper consultation? THIS is what breaks my heart the most, honestly ㅠ

I thought maybe academic consulting fees were just astronomically expensive — turns out no. A few hundred thousand won per session, maybe 1–2 million at the high end, so even multiple rounds of expert consultation wouldn't break 10 million won total. They're out here boasting about a record-breaking 30 billion won budget — the biggest in the network's history — and they couldn't find 10 million won for the thing that actually matters?

I've watched this from episode one and I'm telling you — this isn't sloppiness, this feels intentional. And here's the thing: they DO consult historians, but production picks and chooses which notes to actually use. Which means every wrong choice was a conscious choice. They knew. They just didn't care.

If historical accuracy is too much of a bother, then just invent everything yourself. Create a fictional history, fictional costumes, fictional court etiquette — go full fantasy. But if you're going to borrow real Korean history for your aesthetic and your prestige, you own the consequences. Why do they want all the benefits of historical drama without any of the actual work??

Okay so of that 30 billion won budget — how much went to actor fees? What are the leads pulling per episode? Because the sets look like a school play and the directing is giving community theater... did they literally just dump the entire budget into salaries and call it a day??

We genuinely need to build that Historical Accuracy Research Institute. This keeps happening over and over and productions have learned there are no consequences — so they just cast big names, bank on the fandoms to carry the ratings, and coast right through the controversy. The playbook is embarrassingly obvious at this point.

They were never going to do Korean history accurately — they couldn't, because the whole framework they built was Japanese imperial court at the start, and now it's flipping to Chinese? This drama doesn't feel like a Korean drama that made mistakes. It feels like an anti-Korean drama that knew exactly what it was doing.

With a 30 billion won budget and a major broadcasting company co-producing with Kakao Entertainment behind this — there is literally no excuse that holds up. You had every resource in the industry. So make a choice: commit to historical accuracy, or set your story in a completely fictional world. You don't get to do neither.

Imagine if they respond to all this 'cheonse' backlash by threatening to sue people for defamation ㅋㅋㅋ the absolute audacity that would take

If they weren't willing to do Korean history properly, they should have just set it in a fictional third country — (though honestly even a fictional kingdom shouting '천세/cheonse' would be absurd) — but the point is: someone needs to be the voice that says 'this is not Korean history' and actually has the power to stop it from airing.

Every single time this happens, it blows over with a half-hearted apology and everyone moves on — so of course broadcasters have zero incentive to spend real money on accuracy. That's exactly why this time cannot just quietly disappear.

A Historical Accuracy Research Institute is not optional anymore — it's urgent. Korean content doesn't just belong to Korean audiences now; it travels the world. That means how we portray our own history becomes a global statement about who we are. Keunbyeol Teacher, thank you for speaking up.

STOP dumping everything into actor fees and actually make a good drama!! Korean content is being watched globally now — when you butcher Korean history, the whole WORLD sees it. Are they out of their minds??

With other historically inaccurate dramas, at least you could have a conversation — this part is right, that part is wrong, here's where it diverges. With Perfect Crown, there's nothing to even debate. It's wrong from top to bottom, start to finish, with stunning consistency.

Every historian in Korea is currently clutching the back of their neck and slowly sliding down the wall

I keep thinking about the actual historians and consultants who worked on this. Whatever they were paid, you can feel how insulted they must be right now. Hundreds of thousands of won for their expertise... that's probably not even 1/100th of what a single lead actor earns per episode. Their knowledge treated as a line-item rounding error.

Apparently this drama DID have historical consultants. I'm genuinely stunned. Like, speechlessly, cosmically stunned.

What makes Keunbyeol Teacher's statement powerful is that he didn't just tear the production apart — he pointed toward a real solution. That's the difference between venting and actually changing something.

Wait — if Keunbyeol Teacher is weighing in on this publicly... it's actually serious serious, right??

I've been watching without saying much until now, but I've reached the point where I feel like I owe people an apology for that. This isn't small. This is not okay.

Make a drama with zero integrity or foundation, pocket tens of billions of won in actor fees, and leave everyone else to deal with the fallout and the rage. Cool system.

Hundreds of millions to actors, a few hundred thousand for historical accuracy??? The entire K-drama industry needs a hard reset. And yes — a dedicated Historical Accuracy Research Institute. That's not a radical idea, that's a minimum standard.

'Why are you trying to cover your historical research with a few hundred thousand won?' → The fact that this is real and not a joke. THIS is why everything fell apart.

Nobody's demanding a bone-dry academic documentary — just keep the basics right. That's it. Just the basics. So why can't they even manage that?? Is it that they genuinely can't? Or that they genuinely won't? Because both answers are damning. ㅉㅉ

So grateful Keunbyeol Teacher used his platform to speak up. And I genuinely hope the Historical Accuracy Research Institute becomes real — and not just optional. Make it law. Make it mandatory. Historical dramas go through the Institute, full stop.