MBC drama Perfect Crown is facing fierce criticism for alleged historical distortion, and now its related popup store is set to shut down early. With negative sentiment refusing to die down, even the offline event has been scaled back, signaling ongoing fallout.
The Perfect Crown popup store notified pre-booked visitors on the 22nd that its operating schedule had changed. Originally slated to run for 10 days from the 19th to the 28th at The Hyundai Seoul, the final dates have been shortened to the 25th—effectively just seven days. In particular, merchandise sales will only take place through tomorrow (the 23rd), and on the 24th–25th the space will operate as an exhibition only.
The operator apologized for the sudden adjustment, saying it had "changed the schedule and format due to on-site operational reasons." While no specific background was disclosed, many in and around the industry widely believe the recent historical distortion controversy is to blame.
Perfect Crown has struggled with historical accuracy issues since its early episodes, and the controversy exploded with an enthronement scene aired right before the finale. In the drama, Grand Prince Ian (played by Byeon Woo-seok) appeared wearing a nine-bead crown associated with vassal states instead of the twelve-bead imperial crown that symbolizes a sovereign empire, and the officials shouted "cheonsae" ("a thousand years") rather than the traditional "manse" ("ten thousand years"). As some Chinese netizens appeared to leverage the scene to support Northeast Project narratives, the uproar grew even louder.
In the end, IU, Byeon Woo-seok, the director, and the writer issued direct apologies, and the production team removed the problematic scenes. Even so, the backlash has not subsided. On viewer boards and online communities, people are calling for the drama to be scrapped and are even discussing the possibility of clawing back subsidies.
With rerun scheduling and the popup store operations becoming fresh flashpoints after the finale, the aftershocks surrounding Perfect Crown appear likely to continue for the time being.