The King: Eternal Monarch, SBS‘s upcoming Friday-Saturday series, has already been the talk of so-called “gapjil” in the broadcasting industry. Gapjil refers to the abuse of power by someone in a superior position against a person or third-party in an inferior one.
In the morning on March 30, Market News, one of the Korean entertainment news sites, reported exclusively that one actor, who had recently been cast in The King: Eternal Monarch, became the victim of the gapjil casting. According to the original article, The production team of the drama had suddenly changed the actor’s role without a prior notice or discussion, even though the actor had confirmed his/her appearance as the role in question.
The damaged actor, who’s been anonymized in the relevant articles, is said to have eventually decided to drop out of The King: Eternal Monarch. It’s also anonymous which role in this drama is involved in the gossip. No matter who is the victim of this gapjil, it’s really shameful that the abusive and unilateral practices like this are very common in the entertainment industry, even in the beginning of 2020s.
On the same day, an official from the production team of The King: Eternal Monarch made a statement through the multiple media. “We’re currently checking out the detailed situations, so we’ll tell you our stance later,” the official said without further explanations.
The King: Eternal Monarch, a fantasy romance starring Lee Min Ho and Kim Go Eun, is the new project of the star scriptwriter Kim Eun Sook. Its first episode will be aired on April 17.
