Drama Adaptation of Webtoon "The Elementary School Student I Love" Canceled

Teachers' Groups Protest and Readers Flood with Complaints
"We Will Create Healthy Content with a Responsible Attitude"

The production of a drama based on the webtoon "The Elementary School Student I Love," which sparked controversy for depicting a romantic relationship between a teacher and an elementary school student, has ultimately been canceled.

On July 4, drama production company Meta New Line announced, "We have decided to halt the planning and production of the drama based on 'The Elementary School Student I Love,' taking seriously the various concerns raised by society."

The company added, "We sincerely apologize to the author for causing new burdens even for the original work created in 2015," and continued, "We humbly accept the changing social sensibilities and trends, and will do our best to create healthy and meaningful content with a more cautious and responsible attitude."

This webtoon, which was serialized on platforms such as Lezhin Comics from 2015 to 2020, featured a storyline centered on love involving an elementary school student, as suggested by its title. The story included scenes where the main character, an elementary school teacher, feels romantic excitement toward a fifth-grade male student, leading to criticism that the content was inappropriate.

Meta New Line recently signed a video adaptation rights contract with C&C Revolution, the creator of the webtoon, which further fueled the controversy. In particular, teachers' associations unanimously called for the cancellation of the production. As reader complaints surged, major webtoon platforms such as Naver Series and Kakao Page suspended sales of the webtoon the previous day.