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As The King’s Warden continues its strong box office run, drawing a cumulative 11.7 million moviegoers as of March 9, its 34th day since opening on February 4, the movie has garnered not only acclaim but also a plagiarism allegation.
On March 9, MBN reported that a letter had been sent to the film's production company calling for the source of the screenplay to be disclosed, along with the claim that there was a separate original creator of The King’s Warden. The sender of the letter was the bereaved family of actor "A", who passed away in 2019. The family claimed that the contents of Eom Heung Do, a drama script that "A" wrote in 2000 and continued submitting to broadcasters and other outlets until one year before his death, were similar to those of the film The King’s Warden. They further demanded that, if "A" was indeed the original creator of The King’s Warden, his name be included in the work's credits.
The similarities claimed by the bereaved family concern certain elements of the film's content and its character settings: the scene in which Eom Heung Do offers food to King Dan Jong and Dan Jong eats it with pleasure; the detail that, in the film, Dan Jong eats olgaengi-guk (freshwater snail soup), while in the drama script "Eom Heung Do", he eats buckwheat jelly and says, "I tried this when I was in the palace; it tastes good"; and the part where Eom Heung Do relays Dan Jong's words to the villager who prepared the food, the setup in which Eom Heung Do rescues Dan Jong as he attempts to throw himself off a cliff.
They also point to similarities in characterization: although Dan Jong historically had several palace maids attending him, both the film and the drama depict him as having only one; and although Eom Heung Do in reality had three sons, both the film and the drama portray him as having only one.
In response, the production team behind The King’s Warden released an official statement on March 10, firmly denying the plagiarism allegations.
They stated, "The King’s Warden is an original work based on historical facts, and the entire creative process has been thoroughly documented and can be verified."
They added, "Because the work is based on historical figures and events, there may be other creative works that claim similarities. However, there was no route through which the creators encountered the work in question during the creative process, nor any causal link to it. There was absolutely no plagiarism of any other works during the planning, development, or production stages," and "The plagiarism claims are entirely groundless, and we will respond firmly through every possible measure, including legal procedures, against such allegations."
Controversies that follow popularity are like a double-edged sword that blockbuster films often face. The Admiral: Roaring Currents, which holds the No. 1 spot in the all-time box office, was also embroiled in controversy over "historical distortion" at the time of its release. Likewise, Assassination — which drew 12.7 million moviegoers and became a box-office hit — was sued for plagiarism by a novelist. In the case of Assassination, the plagiarism dispute was appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, but the similarities were not recognized, and the film ultimately won the case.
Set in 1457, The King’s Warden tells the story of a headman who voluntarily makes the village an exile site to revive it, and of a young former king who has been dethroned and sent into exile. The K-movie stars Yoo Hai Jin, Park Ji Hoon, Yoo Ji Tae, Jeon Mi Do, and Kim Min.
