Plagiarism allegations surrounding Chinese drama ‘Meet Yourself’ at Seoul Drama Awards spark controversy

Seoul Drama Awards organisers acknowledge plagiarism allegations surrounding Chinese drama ‘Meet Yourself,’ the drama under suspicion of plagiarising the Korean drama ‘Hometown Cha Cha Cha’ has become an award-winning drama at the “Seoul Drama Awards.” Despite domestic netizens’ allegations of plagiarism and backlash, why was this problematic work chosen as an award winner?

An official from the Korea Broadcasting Association, which hosted the Seoul Drama Awards on the 8th, told OSEN, “We became aware of the allegations of plagiarism surrounding ‘Meet Yourself’ and the Korean drama ‘Hometown Cha Cha Cha’ after the announcement of the nominees. Just because there are suspicions surrounding the work doesn’t mean we should judge whether it’s plagiarism or not. We cannot promote conflicts between nations, races, or ethnic groups according to our internal policy, and we are required to take action immediately in case of legal disputes.”

Furthermore, they explained, “Moreover, plagiarism is an issue where legal disputes arise between the parties, and it was crucial to have discussions between the parties. Therefore, we conducted an internal review to confirm whether there were official allegations of plagiarism or disputes related to ‘Meet Yourself.’ However, we confirmed that there was no separate legal action related to the plagiarism allegations of ‘Meet Yourself.'”

The official continued, saying, “Various complaints can arise, and we considered various measures before taking action. As a result of the evaluation, not only ‘Meet Yourself’ but also various other works were selected as award winners. We are closely reviewing various judges, both domestically and internationally, to provide clear evaluation criteria. We are selecting winners based on comprehensive criteria, including popularity, artistic quality, originality, and so on.”

‘Meet Yourself’ stars Chinese actors Yu Yebi and Li Xien and tells the story of a woman who settles in the countryside and falls in love with a country man. It deals with the romance between a city woman and a country man and shares similarities with the Korean TVN drama “Hometown Cha Cha Cha,” which has been criticized by some Korean netizens for its suspected plagiarism. The drama drew criticism, especially in its early episodes, for similarities such as the female protagonist losing her shoes and the male protagonist providing slippers, as well as the male protagonist’s successful past as an investment professional in the city and his character who leads the village in times of trouble. Despite this criticism, “Meet Yourself” was selected as the winner of the Best Drama award in the International Competition category at the 18th Seoul Drama Awards 2023, held on the 6th.

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