Song Joong Ki: ‘Arthdal Chronicles’ Continues to Gain High Ratings Despite Plagiarism and Staff Mistreatment Allegations

Song Joong Ki and the rest of the cast and production crew of “Arthdal Chronicles” are enjoying big success as the drama continues to achieve high viewership ratings. Since airing on June 1, tvN’s newest drama has been recorded as one of the most watched programs - as expected.

Ilgan Sports reported that based on Nielsen Korea’s survey, Joong Ki’s comeback drama that just aired its fourth episode on June 9, broke its previous episode rating by registering an average of 8.9 percent viewership rating nationwide. There was a 1.3 percent increase from Saturday’s 7.7 percent record which proved that the drama is picking up more viewers as the story deepens.

Apparently, Song Joong Ki’s “Arthdal Chronicles” is doing great despite the bad publicities with regards to its production. As Allkpop reported, the show is being accused of plagiarism and mistreating the staff when the drama is still being filmed.

It was said that the production crew was required to work at least 150 hours per week, which means they did not get enough rest while completing the drama. As for the plagiarism, many said that the plot and concept of “Arthdal Chronicles” were taken from HBO’s “Game of Thrones” so it was initially labeled as the Korean version of the hit American fantasy series.

The issues were brought up during the press conference before the drama was aired, but Song Joong Ki, the directors and the rest of the team did not comment on the matter. The host of the event also asked the press not to ask irrelevant questions, thus the matter remained unaddressed. In a follow-up, tvN said that it will respond to the queries through email to the media.

Meanwhile, the next episode will show Song Joong Ki (Eum Seom) holding Ta Gon’s father hostage as he tries to get back Tan Ya and the rest of the captured Wahan tribe members. “Arthdal Chronicles” episode 5 and 6 will air on June 15 and 16 at 9 p.m. KST.