tvN's first episode of "Summer Vacation" featuring Jung Yu Mi, Choi Woo Sik, and Park Seo Joon draws flak for its concept's allegedly potential plagiarism of a video game.
According to The Korea Times, Actress Jung Yu Mi and actor Choi Woo Shik as stars in the show displayed their daily lives in a seaside house in Gangwon Province. The lead stars show their activities in free time like taking walks, cooking and raising vegetables. They also draw and keep journals.
After the premiere of "Summer Vacation's" first episode, commotions on the internet arose regarding the show's similarity with the Japanese video game "My Summer Vacation" produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment the year 2000.
Per Soompi, viewers expressed concerns regarding the vacation home featured in the show being similar to the traditional Japanese-style house with its attic, sliding doors, and ceilings.
The reactions went loud as it was connected with the history of Korea, where it became an imperial colony of Japan from 1910 to 1945. Reasons behind the negative sentiments about Japan in Korea include the issue that Japan during World War II made use of Korean women as laborers and sex slaves.
Meanwhile, Director Na and tvN denied the plagiarism allegations. The network's released statement noted that the production never knew about the game and thus did not make it a reference.
tvN explained that before filming the episode of "Summer Vacation," they found a pretty village which they considered a perfect place to stay for a month. They looked for the oldest house in the area to showcase their cast in a variety of situations.
Since the old house that they found was built in the 1950s, they decided to keep the original features of the house and only change the roof colors. The production thought that the place fit for their plans for the home-vacation reality show.
The statement expressed that the "Summer vacation" team never thought about the house that much because they believed it was not of so much relevance. With this, the production team of "Summer Vacation" felt apologetic for not carefully considering possible discomfort their viewers may feel.
tvN's statement concluded by accepting the viewers' feedback and considered reconstructing the doors and windows of the house to minimize the discomfort of everyone before they proceed to the second episode.
tvN's episodes for "Summer Vacation" can be watched every Friday at 9:10 PM, KST.