"Strengthening Supervision and Management of Outsourced Production Companies" Commitment to Prevent Recurrence
Korea Broadcasting System (KBS) repeatedly apologized and promised to prevent recurrence after the filming team of the drama "I Took the Male Lead's First Night" was accused of damaging Byeongsan Seowon Mandaeru, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site.
On the afternoon of the 3rd, KBS issued a statement saying, "After dispatching the drama center director and the executive producer to Byeongsan Seowon in Andong to assess the situation on site, we confirmed that the production team had hammered new nails into about 10 existing nail marks to hang props, applying pressure while fixing them." They added, "The places where the production team hammered nails were about 10 spots, including 8 column heads of Mandaeru and 2 column heads of Dongjae at Byeongsan Seowon."
They also drew a line by stating, "This is unrelated to the 'Mandaeru column nail marks' photos reported by some media." They continued, "Even if there were existing nail marks, the act of hammering new nails and applying pressure constitutes damage to cultural heritage, and we apologize for this matter."
However, they explained, "During the filming process, the production team had the location where props could be hung reviewed in advance by Byeongsan Seowon's manager, Byeolyusa, and filming began in the presence of Byeolyusa."
KBS stated, "We will humbly accept the results of the police investigation and the investigations by Andong City and the Cultural Heritage Administration. We will also actively cooperate in restoring the damaged parts in the future. We will provide education to the drama’s external production company about the precious value of Byeongsan Seowon, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site, and strengthen future supervision."
They also promised, "We will create guidelines to prevent such incidents from occurring. The guidelines will include provisions such as seeking advice from cultural heritage experts or conducting filming in the presence of experts when filming at cultural properties, historic sites, or relics."
This drama is a romance fantasy about Cha Seonchaek (Seo Hyun), a minor character in a novel inhabited by a female college student's soul, spending a night with the protagonist Gyeongseonggun (Ok Taec-yeon). It is created by PD Lee Woong-hee, who co-directed "By Chance, You" (2023), and writer Jeon Seon-young of "Oh! Young-shim" (2023).
Byeongsan Seowon is Historic Site No. 260 and a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site. Mandaeru is a representative pavilion of Korean seowon architecture and is designated as a treasure. According to the Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency, a complaint was filed around midnight through the National Petition System on the same day.
The complainant, known as a citizen, requested punishment based on Article 92 (Crimes of Damage or Concealment) Paragraph 1 of the Cultural Heritage Protection Act. Previously, KBS was also criticized for hammering large nails into several gates of the private Mungyeong Saejae during the filming of the historical drama "Dae Jo-yeong" in 2007.
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