The popular SBS period drama The Legend Of The Blue Sea has once again been hit by a plagiarism controversy after a Korean scriptwriter, named Park, claimed that its storyline has a lot of similarities with that of her project titled The Legend of Hae Wol Sea: Pearly Shells.
After introducing herself as a writer on the show's official web page, the person stated that she wrote the story idea 10 years ago and it was for a movie. According to her, many of the incidents portrayed in the mini-series are similar to that of her work.
While demanding an apology from the writers of the mini-series, Choi Soon-Sil and Cha Eun Tak, Park stated that she is not accusing them of plagiarism. "I want to emphasise once again that I'm not here to say that they have plagiarised my writing. Why? Because I am a poor citizen," she wrote.
Park also stated that she is not in a position to take legal actions against popular personalities from the entertainment industry even though justice is on her side. "How can I take legal action against big, threatening existence? If they deny and try to demolish me, I will just go die," Allkpop quoted her as saying.
"This is an analysis of the similar parts, but I've never said it was plagiarism. I heard you get sued if you talk big and claim that it's plagiarised," Park added in her statement.
Since The Legend Of The Blue Sea writers Choi Soon-Sil and Cha Eun Tak are yet to respond to the recent controversy, it remains to be seen if it will affect the telecast of Lee Min Ho-starrer Korean mini-series.
However, this is not the first time the period drama is getting involved in a plagiarism controversy. After the premiere episode, some of the netizens claimed that the creators have copied the signature gestures of Sherlock for the show. Later on, a group social media users stated that its storyline is very similar to that of the 1984 romantic comedy film Splash.
