According to a report published on November 6, the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) gave MBC’s Perfect Crown a passing grade in its production support evaluation in June. The drama remained approved as of early November, and no procedure to reclaim the funding, which had been discussed following the controversy, was initiated.
KOCCA was required to complete its evaluation by June. At that time, the outcomes of related reviews and parliamentary procedures had not yet been announced. The agency explained that the production had been completed as planned and was therefore assessed according to the existing criteria. It stressed that the decision resulted from the established evaluation process rather than an independent judgment made internally by KOCCA.
However, there were no separate criteria for incorporating historical distortion controversies into the evaluation. KOCCA maintained that the program was designed to support content production, making it difficult to directly penalize issues related to a project’s distribution or broadcast. No standards were in place to impose sanctions specifically over such controversies, effectively leaving a gap in the system for screening problematic content.
Perfect Crown was selected for the long-form drama category of KOCCA’s 2025 OTT-Specialized Content Production Support Program (IP Acquisition Track). The program announced a total budget of 7.5 billion won to support seven drama and non-drama productions. Each long-form drama could receive up to 2 billion won.
The funding arrangement was first revealed in a report published on May 21. At the time, there was speculation that the financial support could be reclaimed depending on the outcome of the final evaluation.
The controversy began with a royal coronation scene aired in May. Scenes showing the king wearing a traditional nine-string crown and officials shouting “Ten thousand years” drew criticism over alleged historical inaccuracies.
On May 16, the production team issued an apology on the drama’s official website, stating, “This issue arose because the production team failed to carefully examine how Joseon-era ceremonial customs evolved throughout history.” The team also promised to revise the audio and subtitles in the disputed scenes for reruns, video-on-demand services, and OTT platforms.
Lead actors IU and Byeon Woo Seok issued separate apologies on May 18. Writer Yoo Ji Won also apologized on May 19. While explaining that the drama was a romantic fantasy set in a fictional constitutional monarchy, the writer acknowledged, “In the process of applying Joseon-era customs to modern times and depicting a fictional contemporary royal family, we lacked thorough research and historical verification.”
On May 21, KOCCA also promised to prevent similar incidents in the future. The agency stated that it would explore ways to require applicants to submit plans for expert consultation and historical verification from the application and selection stages, while strengthening checks to ensure those plans were implemented.
Revising the evaluation standards remains under discussion. KOCCA is currently consulting with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on how the changes could be incorporated into its 2027 support programs. Specific evaluation criteria, disciplinary standards, and implementation dates have yet to be determined.
Sources: Nate