Three KBS Drama Team Officials Sent to Prosecution for Damage to Byeongsan Seowon

Suspected of Hammering Nails to Hang Prop Lanterns
KBS Discards All Footage Involved in the Controversy

Three KBS officials were sent to the prosecution for damaging Byeongsan Seowon, a UNESCO World Heritage site, under the pretext of drama filming.

Andong Police Station in Gyeongbuk announced on the 10th that it had sent three KBS drama on-site prop team officials to the prosecution on charges of damaging Byeongsan Seowon, a UNESCO World Heritage site (violation of the Cultural Heritage Protection and Utilization Act).

Byeongsan Seowon. Photo by Asia Economy

They are accused of nailing prop model lanterns to several wooden pillars of Mandaeru and Dongjae at Byeongsan Seowon on December 30 last year.

Andong City filed complaints with the police against two companies of the KBS on-site prop team on the 3rd and 8th of last month, respectively. After it became known that the production team had hammered nails at Byeongsan Seowon, a complaint letter written by a general citizen was also submitted to the police.

A representative of the Intelligent Crime Investigation Team at Andong Police Station said, "We confirmed that the team leader and employees of the on-site prop team outsourced by KBS damaged the cultural heritage," adding, "They have been sent to the prosecution."

KBS discarded all controversial filming footage and apologized at the request of Andong City.