Korean Animal Welfare Association Issues Statement About Interview With KBS Over "The King of Tears, Lee Bang Won"

The Korean Animal Welfare Association (KAWA) has released a statement regarding their meeting with KBS over the incident with a horse during the filming of “The King of Tears, Lee Bang Won.”

Viewers raised concerns with KAWA over potential animal abuse in a scene that aired in KBS’s historical drama “The King of Tears, Lee Bang Won,” where a horse was pulled to the ground using a rope tied around its legs. The horse died a week after it was used in the filming, and KBS issued an apology. Several celebrities have also spoken out against animal abuse on filming sets in light of the incident.

After the incident occurred, KAWA requested an interview with KBS in order to confirm the truth surrounding the incident as well as to prevent a reoccurrence from happening. The interview was attended by the head of the KBS Drama Center, the executive producer, and the head of the Drama Center’s planning and operation team.

Throughout the interview, KAWA stated that they called for “new established guidelines on animal welfare,” and demanded an “animal filming ethics committee to be organized that includes experts, such as animal organizations, versed in animal welfare and safety,” and for KBS to include animal welfare experts in their viewer committee.

In response, KBS said that it would come up with measures to ensure animal welfare on set during internal discussions after collecting opinions from experts.

On January 24, KBS issued another statement regarding the incident. The full statement is below:

KBS will work to respect the value of life.

Recently, a disgraceful event occurred while filming the drama “The King of Tears, Lee Bang Won.” KBS feels deeply responsible for not protecting the lives of animals on set, and we sincerely apologize to viewers and the public.

There are no scenes that need to be filmed while endangering the lives of animals. KBS believes this accident was a tragedy caused as a result of a lack of awareness of animal welfare and ethics.

In order to ensure this type of accident does not occur again, we will prepare production regulations regarding animal safety and welfare as soon as possible. We will take the advice and reprimands from viewers and related organizations seriously.

KBS will not only independently identify the exact details of the incident, but will also faithfully participate in investigations with external organizations.

Using this incident as a lesson, KBS will do its best to inspect and improve the overall production site to ensure a disgraceful incident will not occur again. Through this, we will try to become a trusted public media.

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