SBS’s Agent Kim Reactivated is on a major hot streak.
According to Nielsen Korea on July 5th, the latest episode of the SBS drama scored a 21.6% rating, taking No. 1 in its time slot. Just four episodes in, Agent Kim Reactivated has already broken past the coveted 20% mark, becoming the first drama in two years to clear the threshold and setting a new benchmark as 2026’s biggest drama breakout so far.
The milestone also places it third on SBS’s all-time Friday-Saturday drama ratings chart, trailing only The Penthouse 2 at 29.2% and The Fiery Priest at 22%.
But as the drama’s ratings climb, past allegations surrounding Park Tae Jun, the head of The Grimm Entertainment, the company behind the original webtoon, have resurfaced, prompting boycott calls from some viewers. The controversy centers on claims that his earlier work Lookism included references evoking former President Roh Moo Hyun’s death, which critics linked to Ilbe, a far-right online community in Korea.
Park denied the allegations at the time, saying, “I may be uneducated and lacking in many ways, but I’m not the kind of person who would do something like that with a photo of the deceased, nor would I have the nerve.”
The controversy did not end there. In 2021, another expression used in Diary of Desire drew criticism for allegedly resembling the way former President Moon Jae In is mocked on Ilbe.
Reactions have been mixed. Some argue that a boycott goes too far, since Park did not directly write the original work. Others say the past controversy involving the head of the production company behind the source material should not be brushed aside.
The drama itself remains on a powerful upswing. But with past Ilbe allegations surrounding the head of the original webtoon production company back in the spotlight, all eyes are on whether Agent Kim Reactivated can keep its blockbuster run going.
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