A Horse Died After a K-Drama Stunt Went Horribly Wrong

Working conditions and filming practices of South Korean dramas involving animals are now under scrutiny after behind-the-scenes footage from the set of a television series showed a horse sustaining a serious injury. 

On Monday, South Korean national broadcaster KBS apologized for the death of a horse after filming a stunt for the K-drama The King of Tears, Lee Bang-won.

“KBS is deeply aware of its responsibility for not protecting the lives of animals involved in the filming of the drama, and once again deeply apologizes to the viewers and the public,” the broadcaster said.

The stunt, shown in the seventh episode of the period drama, featured actor Kim Yeong-cheol’s character, Lee Seong-gye, falling from the horse mid-ride.

This is the second statement from the broadcaster regarding the issue. A previous statement came on Thursday, soon after animal rights group Korean Animal Welfare Association released the behind-the-scenes video clip of the stunt. In the statement, KBS said it had prepared for the scene to avoid such accidents. “Unfortunately, it was confirmed that the horse died about a week after filming,” it added.   

The organization criticized the show’s production team for its abuse of the horse, saying: “As we feared, when they were filming, the horse was severely knocked to the ground. We confirmed that the horse’s legs were tied to a wire, which was pulled with much force while the horse was running, causing the horse to fall in a dangerous way. Both the horse and the actor were at risk of being severely injured.” 

The horse, named Kami, was a racehorse until it retired at around 4 to 5 years old, local newspaper The Hankyoreh reported. Last year, it was sent to a horse rental business. About 1,400 racehorses like Kami retire every year, according to the Korea Racing Authority.

Several South Korean celebrities have since expressed anger and frustration over the incident.

Taeyeon from girl group Girls’ Generation wrote in an Instagram Story: "My heart aches and I'm in tears as I find it difficult just to watch the video. I can't believe they are executing a drama like that in today's age... It's such an unthinkable thing to do to an animal as well as to a human.”

Actor Yoo Yeon-seok also took to Instagram to post a photo of the incident on his Stories and wrote: “There shouldn’t be any more scenes where animals are killed for money and time. The safety of stunt actors must also be guaranteed.”

Online, people also expressed their own concerns in comment sections. “Wow. We don’t deserve animals, really. Abusing animals for this fucking scene. I am beyond appalled. This is so sick,” one said. “This is so enragingly disgusting. A life of an animal is not lesser than humans for us to toy with!!” said another.

Following the events, South Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs announced on Tuesday that it would prepare guidelines to protect animals that appear in movies, television shows, and advertisements.

The episode that contained the stunt has been removed from the broadcaster’s video-on-demand service and other streaming platforms, while the airing of episodes 13 and 14 of the drama, originally slated to air this past weekend, has since been postponed.

Meanwhile, a petition posted on the Blue House Petition Board, the county’s presidential office, demanding that the show be canceled altogether now has close to 144,000 supporters. 

With reporting from Sowon Lee.

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