3 K-Dramas That Were Canceled Because Of Controversies

While many K-Dramas pass the filming stage and hit the big screen, some experience a different fate. Here are three dramas that got tangled up in controversies and canceled.

1. Joseon Exorcist (2021)

Joseon Exorcist was a historical fantasy with a supernatural twist. The drama was centered around the Joseon royal family and their fight against evil spirits. Although the storyline interested viewers, it immediately received backlash for its execution.

After releasing two episodes, viewers called out Joseon Exorcist for its inaccurate props and historical events—which further fueled tension between South Korea and China. Advertisers pulled out of the show, and viewers started a petition to cancel it.

SBS fulfilled viewers’ wishes. Despite the drama being eighty percent done, Joseon Exorcist was canceled and didn’t air past episode two.

2. School 2020 (2020)

KBS‘s School series began in 1999 and was rebooted with the popularity of School 2013, which continued with Who Are You: School 2015 and School 2017. So fans of the series were excited for School 2020—until things took a wrong turn.

“School 2017” poster.

While WEi‘s Kim Yohan was locked in as the male lead, actress Ahn Seo Hyun was originally chosen as the female lead. But the drama made headlines for “unfairly” kicking Ahn Seo Hyun out of the cast, according to her father.

Ahn Seo Hyun | @seohyun1018/Instagram

The controversy became even bigger when Ahn Seo Hyun’s role was offered to Kim Sae Ron. However, there was more to the story. The producers revealed Ahn Seo Hyun’s father and his “excessive” demands were the cause.

| @seohyun1018/Instagram

As a result, the drama School 2020 was scrapped. Since they still had Kim Yohan as the male lead, they changed the script, hired a new cast, and created the new drama School 2021.

3. Four Sons

With Park Hae Jin as the male lead, Four Sons was centered around a man who tries to solve the mystery behind his mother’s death. As he becomes tangled in a conspiracy, things become even stranger when he discovers other men who look identical to him. Like Joseon Exorcist, the storyline had viewers interested until the controversies began.

Park Hae Jin in “Four Sons.” | tvN

Filming for the series began in 2018, with Nana as the lead female actress. But it was eventually delayed months later due to differences between the director and the production company Victory Contents. Nana and the director both decided to exit the drama.

Nana and Park Hae Jin in “Four Sons.” | tvN

Despite the delay in filming, the production company attempted to stop Park Hae Jin from filming the 2020 drama Forest instead. Park Hae Jin ended up suing Victory Contents and winning. In the end, Four Sons was scrapped, and the film footage was turned into the six-episode web series Genesis three years later.