Out of all the K-dramas airing in 2015, Yong Pal by the Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) is the one true standout so far. Premiering on August 5, 2015, the K-drama was more than well-received, earning an average of 11 percent viewership for both Seoul and nationwide viewership. It is amazing any K-drama would earn double-digit ratings upon its premiere and by the eighth episode, Yong Pal ‘s percentage viewership boomed up to 20 percent average. Yong Pal even beat this year’s “super K-drama,” Producer .
However, such fanfare and praise for any K-drama is surely to be met with some criticisms. In the case of Yong Pal , it is now being accused of plagiarizing a long-running comic titled City Conquest .
According to KdramaStars , the people behind the comic City Conquest accused Yong Pal of plagiarism . However, it should be noted that the accusers are attacking the K-drama as a whole and not specifically saying what is being plagiarized. Representatives at HB Entertainment, the production company for Yong Pal , is refuting the allegations.
“Claims that Yong Pal plagiarized the comic City Conquest ignore that the drama has just a small cross-section of the [subject].”
As mentioned earlier, Yong Pal is a very successful K-drama garnering a double-digit viewership percentage. Therefore, HB Entertainment believes the K-drama’s success may attribute to the plagiarism allegations as a means to ruin it.
“Suspicions of plagiarism are just attempts to ruin a drama that is doing well.”
In the defense of both HB Entertainment and SBS, Korean news site Daily Sports noted the differences between Yong Pal and City Conquest . First are the numerous plot devices present in City Conquest not present in Yong Pal including Japanese gangsters and an incident involving a 10-year-old child. Also, Yong Pal is the result of written works by Jang Hyeok Rin, the creative mind behind the OCN series, Reset .
Yong Pal airs on Wednesdays and Thursdays on SBS at 9:55 p.m. KST. For those who don’t have SBS as an option, Yong Pal can be viewed for free (with ads) on either DramaFever or Viki .
[Image via Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS)/ Yong Pal Promotions]
