'Love in the Big City' to rerelease trailer amid homophobic backlash

The poster for "Love in the Big City" / Courtesy of Tving

The production company behind the drama "Love in the Big City," which features LGBTQ+ characters, initially removed its trailer following protests from conservative groups, but has decided to make the trailer public again, an incident that highlights the ongoing power of "hate culture."

The drama, which centers on a gay man and a straight woman living together while navigating their own romantic lives, is set to premiere on the streaming service Tving on Oct. 21. It was produced with support from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency under their program to support the specialized content production of streaming services.

The trailer, which was released on YouTube and portal sites on Oct. 7, included scenes of the male protagonist interacting romantically with his male partner, including a kiss.

However, after receiving complaints from anti-LGBTQ+ groups accusing the show of "glorifying and promoting homosexuality," the production company took the trailer down Saturday.

Park Sang-young, the original author of the novel and the drama's scriptwriter, expressed his frustration on social media, saying, “Due to a flood of complaints directed at certain government departments, we were forced to remove the official trailer. The hateful behavior is something I can never get used to, no matter how often I encounter it.”

The original novel, published in 2019, has been translated into 15 languages, including English, and was shortlisted for prestigious awards such as the International Booker Prize in 2022 and the Dublin Literary Award in 2023. In Korea, it has sold over 100,000 copies.

Amid growing controversy, the production company announced that the trailer would be rereleased on Oct. 16.

A post by writer Park Sang-young expressing his disappointment on X, Saturday, regarding the removal of the trailer. Captured from X

They initially claimed that the trailer was taken down to undergo a review by the Korea Media Rating Board after the drama received an adults-only rating. However, the trailer had already been classified by the platform’s internal review system, making the explanation unnecessary.

Cultural critic Kim Heon-sik criticized the decision: "It is inappropriate for the production company to remove the trailer due to pressure based solely on the trailer itself, without viewers having seen the full content. This could further fuel hate culture."

The film adaptation of "Love in the Big City," which was released on Oct. 1, has attracted over 520,000 viewers within two weeks of its release.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.