KBS drama under fire for animal abuse

In this screen capture uploaded to Instagram by Korea Animal Rights Advocates (KARA), a horse falls through the air before landing face-first on the ground in an episode of "The King of Tears, Lee Bang-won," that aired on KBS, Jan. 1.

By Lee Hae-rin

KBS drama "The King of Tears, Lee Bang-won" is facing allegations of animal abuse from animal protection groups and viewers over a scene from the seventh episode which aired on Jan. 1.

Korea Animal Rights Advocates (KARA) issued a statement on its website and Instagram, Wednesday, that the episode aired on Jan. 1 contains a scene where a horse appears to fall painfully to the ground.

While moving fast with a rider on its back, the horse appears to do a faceplant, landing painfully on the ground. KARA suspects the horse was made to fall by a rope tied to its back legs, for the filming of a scene where a character falls from the horse.

In behind-the-scenes video footage obtained by The Korea Times from KARA, Thursday, the horse is seen running forward, until a rope is pulled and the horse tumbles forward, landing on the ground where it struggles to move for the remainder of the short eight-second clip. The video was initially uploaded by KBS on its YouTube channel but was removed later as criticisms grew.

Korean Animal Welfare Association (KAWA) stated, Wednesday, "It is a shame and a backwards step for a public broadcaster to treat an animal as a prop."

Several outraged viewers posted complaints on the program's website. "I cannot watch the show anymore, knowing how the horse was abused," wrote one viewer, while another wrote, "I cannot believe my eyes. Is the horse still alive? Animals shouldn't be mistreated like this for human entertainment."

According to KARA, the filming technique was prevalent in 1930s Hollywood films such as "The Charge of the Light Brigade," a 1936 film in which 125 horses were tripped, resulting in the deaths of 25 of them. Since 1940, the American Humane Association has been providing guidelines for the safe use of animals in filmed media and certifying safely produced content to prevent animal abuse.

KARA published similar guidelines for animal safety in media production based on animal ethology and in-depth interviews and a survey of media workers and distributed it to Korean producers and filmmakers, including KBS, in December 2020.

KARA and KAWA requested KBS explain the matter, but have not received any responses as of 1 p.m., Thursday.

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