"Plus Nine Boys" Producer Responds to Plagiarism Suspicions

The tvN drama “Plus Nine Boys” has been caught up in a plagiarism controversy

“Plus Nine Boys” has been accused of having similar content to a musical called “Exit 9” that ran from February 20 to the 23 of this year. 

A viewer of the drama pointed out the similarities on the “Plus Nine Boys” homepage. The viewer had noticed that the characters, setting, and the material was strikingly similar to a musical a university drama club put on. When he asked his friend who was in the musical about the drama, the friend told him that he had also recently discovered this and found the similarities off-putting.

According to the viewer, the musical and the drama are about men ages 19, 29, and 39 who are going through difficulties. Also, both named their 19 year old character Mingoo and the 39 year old’s job is a producer.

The viewer hesitated calling it plagiarism, but pointed out that the similarities couldn’t be called coincidences.

The head producer of “Plus Nine Boys,” Kim Young Hoon, rebutted the accusations. He wrote on the homepage, “All of the crew members said they had never seen the musical. ‘Plus Nine Boys’  had been planned since the fall of 2013 and the final synopsis was given to the crew in January and February of 2014.”

Kim Young Hoon also explained that some of the characters, including Mingoo, were named after actual producers and staffs of the drama.