Various historical dramas are scheduled to air this year

Historical dramas, which were rarely seen on TV, are pouring out with more diverse contents this year.

The revised historical drama, which has continued since last year, is expected to continue this year. Currently airing tvN's "Iron Queen" and KBS2's "Secret Investigation Team of Joseon," KBS2's "Moonrise River" SBS's "Chosun Gumasa" "Hongcheongi" and MBC's "Red Leaflet" are preparing to meet viewers. They include various genres such as comedy, fantasy, and romance.

In March, the story of Princess Pyeonggang of Goguryeo and the story of King Taejong will be broadcasted.

"Moonrise River" is a revised historical drama romance between the princess Pyeonggang and general Ondal, starring Kim So-hyun, Ji-soo, Lee Ji-hoon and Kang Ha-neul. "Chosun Gumasa," starring Gam Woo-sung and Jang Dong-yoon, is a fantasy action historical drama that adds the imagination of evil spirits and exorcism to the history of Joseon's founding.

The historical drama 'Hongcheongi' depicts the romance between Kim Yoo-jung, who was the only female painter of Joseon, and Ahn Hyo-seop. "Red Leaflet" which depicts the process of becoming a mother who gave birth to a prince, will feature Park Hye-soo and Kim Kyung-nam. In addition, revised historical dramas such as SBS' "The Fairy and the Shining Idol" will continue to air.

The popularity of fusion historical dramas, which add imagination to historical facts, is confirmed by "Iron Queen" and "Secret Investigation Team of Joseon." A drama official said, "Modified historical dramas can be time-slip or add comic elements and have the strength to hire young actors."

KBS also predicted the revival of the epic drama in five years. The plan is to continue its popularity, which has been cut off since "Jang Young-sil" aired on KBS1 in 2016. The biggest reason for the decrease in historical drama production is the production cost. The cost of historical dramas such as costumes and sets is quite expensive. An official from a production company explained, "History dramas have a long episode unlike modern dramas, but they are difficult to raise production costs due to many advertising restrictions such as PPLs."

However, with the recent trend of OTT popularization, Netflix's original "Kingdom" series has received global attention, and there is a positive outlook for the globalization of the Korean historical drama genre.

It is yet necessary to produce content suitable for the platform in order for the historical drama genre to be distributed around the world through OTT. An OTT industry official said, "In order for Korean historical dramas to be competitive in OTT original contents that invest vast capital, it is important to shorten running time, new fantasy imagination and completeness, beyond just reproducing history." Another official said, "As the historical genre has a real historical background, it is easy to compare with real past people and facts. The controversy over the history distortion of the recent fusion historical drama should be overcome as well.