10 Most Controversial K-Dramas That Left Audiences Divided

No one will argue that K-dramas are the new black in the television industry. The success of South Korean dramas is one of the most interesting phenomena when it comes to the TV world, but no one seems to be against the popularity of these shows.

In fact, with each new release, viewers become obsessed with them and can't wait to see what the industry has to offer next. However, with the ultimate hit series, there are also many controversial pieces introduced to the world.

These 10 series have made audiences and critics talk a lot about the things shown in them and are considered the most divisive in the industry.

1. The Glory

We’ll start with Netflix ’s hit series The Glory. Despite the worldwide love the series got upon release, there was also a lot of criticism from people in South Korea mostly because of the approach the creators took in depicting the scenes of physical and emotional bullying, violence, revenge, and nudity.

But another thing that caused even more buzz among the viewers was the fact that the creator of the series himself was involved in a bullying case, so it made him look like a hypocrite.

2. Snowdrop

The premise of this series, which is set in 1987, has become a topic of discussion among viewers. The plot revolves around BLACKPINK 's Jisoo and A-list actor Jung Hae-in playing love interests from North and South Korea.

In the K-drama, a North Korean spy falls in love with the South Korean student who rescues him. Nearly 200,000 people signed a petition for the series’ cancellation because they thought it falsified facts to fit the romantic narrative and portrayed an enemy in a lovely and compelling way.

3. Joseon Exorcist

The reason this period drama was caught in the scandal right after the release is because of the many Chinese props, food, and even liquor invaded the series. Not even speaking about the many historical inaccuracies that made the viewers angry.

The result was immediate – the K-drama was canceled after 156, 000 people signed a petition.

4. True to Love

This series was also doomed because of its jaw-dropping historical inaccuracy. The romantic drama used a comparison that shocked the audience for no reason at all. Actress Yoo In-na played the role of a dating coach, and while she wanted to make it clear that makeup and accuracy are important, she compared it to the efforts of the prisoners at the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp...

5. The Penthouse: War in Life

While the series started off perfectly and won a lot of awards in South Korea, it ended up at the center of a scandal in its third season when one of the characters, Alex, played by Park Eun Suk, appeared on screen with a completely different appearance. He had many facial tattoos, dreadlocks, gold teeth, lots of bling. To add more, he even used African-American slang.

Of course, the showrunners didn't have to wait long for accusations of cultural appropriation and even racism to come to light by international viewers.

6. Backstreet Rookie

Backstreet Rookie received thousands of complaints from offended people who thought the show was brutally objectifying young women from the first episodes. The results came in quickly.

The Korea Communications Standards Commission quickly slapped the series producers with a warning "for airing provocative and inappropriate scenes." Many of those scenes were even later removed.

7. Squid Game

Despite the worldwide love and many awards this K-drama got, the show still couldn't stay away from some social drama. The thing is, the show used a real eight-digit phone number on the invitation card, which led to thousands of crazy viewers dialing it and harassing the innocent man actually attached to it.

8. Narco-Saints

As the name of the series suggests, the show was inspired by Netflix's Narcos and Narcos: Mexico. The South Korean version of the series focuses on Kang In-gu, a businessman who is forced to work with the National Intelligence Service to eliminate the country's most dangerous kingpin, who is based in Suriname.

However, it didn't take long for the Surinamese government to file a complaint about the negative image the show brought to the country.

9. Oh My Ladylord

What is it with rom-coms and the desire to show nudity? Well, after the first episode of this cute K-drama was released, the internet was flooded with complaints about a certain scene that took place in it. In this scene, the female lead accidentally entered the bathroom while her male tenant was showering.

Even though the scene was censored, viewers didn't like the idea of full nudity on their screens.

10. Vincenzo

Despite all the love Vincenzo has received around the world, there's always something to criticize, right? The unforgivable mistake was made when the titular character was shown having a bowl of bibimbap, which was actually of a Chinese brand.

The strangest thing though is that you can’t even find these in South Korea!