Airing of controversial KBS drama ‘The King of Tears, Lee Bang-won’ to be delayed by another week

KBS’ historical K-drama The King of Tears, Lee Bang-won will not be airing for an additional week.

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According to a February 3 report by KoreaJoongAngDaily, the broadcaster has announced that the controversial series would be delayed for an additional week. This marks the third consecutive week it has been pushed back since January 22, when KBS came under fire for its crew’s treatment of a horse on set.

The network began drawing backlash last month, after viewers noticed the dangerous conditions in which a stunt involving a horse had been filmed. The crew had reportedly tied ropes to the animal’s legs in order to induce a fall for a scene in which actor Kim Yong-chul’s character was thrown off his horse. The controversial scene, which took place in episode seven, has since been removed on all streaming services.

Shortly after, KBS released a statement maintaining that the horse had “got up under its own power” after filming the scene. “However, as viewers recently began to express concern for the horse’s current condition, we checked the horse’s condition again,” it wrote.

KBS representatives later learned that the horse had died a week after the scene was shot. KoreaJoongAngDaily has since noted that the deceased animal had been a recently retired racehorse named Kami.

The television network later issued a second statement and apology on January 24, in which it shared that it felt “deeply responsible for not protecting the lives of animals on set.” KBS added that it would be preparing new regulations regarding animal safety “as soon as possible.”

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