KBS ‘The King of Tears, Lee Bang Won’ became the center of attention after an animal abuse controversy surfaced due to a horse being harmed on the filming set. ‘The King of Tears, Lee Bang Won’ is the first historical drama of KBS after five years. Many people were looking forward to this authentic sageuk. However, after watching a particular scene, many voiced the possibility of an animal abuse accident occurring on the filming set.
Since ‘The King of Tears, Lee Bang Won’ is a saguek drama, it required to film various historical incidents, involving small scenes, such as horse riding, mountain climbing, etc. Thus, while filming the scene where the actor Kim Young Chul’s character, Lee Seong Gye, was thrown from the horse, he ended up hurting the horse. The horse’s legs were tied up with action wire to create a dramatic collapse. But due to the strong force, the horse’s upper body struck the ground yet, after the accident, the horse got up on its own strength. However, it couldn’t live for more days due to the fatal injury.
KBS ‘The King Of Tears, Lee Bang Won’ Apologises For Horse Accident And Pauses Broadcasting For 2 Weeks
After watching the scene, viewers raised concerns with the Korean Animal Welfare Association (KAWA) for possible animal abuse that occurred in the drama. Thus, on 20 January 2022, KBS issued the apologies statement stating they had taken all required precautions to film the difficult scene of the actor being thrown from the horse. Despite their necessary measures, the horse got injured. Unfortunately, the horse died of complications about a week after the filming. However, KBS’s mere apologies were not enough to calm the public down.
On 21 January 2022, a KBS representative announced that due to the recent horse incident controversy about ‘The King of Tears, Lee Bang Won,’ the broadcasting station has decided to pause the drama’s regular airing. Therefore, Episodes 13 and 14 will not be aired on 22 January and 23 January. Furthermore, two special episodes that were supposed to be broadcast over the Luna New Year holiday from 29-30 January will also be canceled.
Meanwhile, enraged netizens are calling for the cancellation of ‘The King of Tears, Lee Bang Won’ after knowing about the horse’s death. Also, over 90 animal rights groups have come together to sue KBS for animal abuse.
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