Originally scheduled to air on December 30, episode 3 of the controversial drama will air on January 6 on tvN, with episode 7 following the next day.
- Dec 29, 2017
AceShowbiz - Lee Seung Gi's newest drama "Hwayugi" a.k.a. "A Korean Odyssey" seemingly faces never-ending controversies. Following its recent broadcast mishaps, the production team of the tvN series announces that episode 3 of the fantasy drama will be further pushed back.
"We announce unfortunate news once again to the viewers who are watching 'Hwayugi'," the network said in a statement released on Friday, December 29. "tvN has decided to push back episode 3 of 'Hwayugi', which was set to air on December 30 [Saturday], by one week, in order to assess the filming set in detail. We would like to bow our heads in apology for causing controversies and inflicting worries to viewers after filming halted back on December 24, due to a staff member's injury as well as issues with the editing process."
"Currently, we are reinforcing manpower to improve the set's standards and carrying out additional safety inspections to regroup in all aspects, including staff's working conditions and schedules," it continued.
"This is so that we can maintain adequate working conditions and so that we can assure no more accidents occur; please understand," it went on saying, before concluding, "Once again, we would like to apologize to all who give 'Hwayugi' their attention, and we will repay you with high quality programming after thorough reassessment and restructuring."
The Ministry of Employment and Labor also inspected the filming set on Thursday after an accident which led to a major injury, even paralysis of one staff member. The unfortunate things kept happening as another staff member reportedly was injured on set while preparing to restart the production after the inspection. Rumor had it, actor Cha Seung Won requested the filming to be halted.
In response to the rumor, a staffer stated, "It's not true the filming for tomorrow has been canceled due to a staff member's injury that occurred while preparing to restart filming today," which was a total contrary to the one released recently.
"It's difficult to call it a stop in filming because we already didn't have filming scheduled. Tomorrow's filming was already canceled due to schedule conflicts and other issues. There are no relations (between a staff's injury and the cancellation of filming). The report stating that Cha Seung Won requested to stop filming is not true," the statement continued.
"The actors are trying to get things together and get going again, saying it'll be right for them to continue despite the difficult situation. We're trying to adjust schedules and complete it with perfection. We will work to make sure there won't be any problems in the production schedule," it concluded.
Also starring F.T. Island's Lee Hong Ki and Oh Yeon Seo, "Hwayugi" is a drama about how indulgent hooligan and rebellious monster Son Oh Gong and charming but pretentious celebrity and monster Woo Ma Gong fight to find the light in a dark and evil world. Episode 3 of the controversial drama will air on January 6 on tvN, with episode 7 following the next day.
