“Man from the Stars” Production Responds to Plagiarism Controversy

On the “Man From the Stars” plagiarism questions raised by cartoonist Kang Kyung Ok, the writer of the comic “Seol Hee,” an HB Entertainment official responded to OSEN on December 20 that “We didn’t know of the comic ‘Seol Hee,’ and it most definitely wasn’t a work that we consulted. If we had mentioned it at all in the production process, one could say there was motive, but that was not the case.”

The official continued, “We have been unable to get into contact with Mr. Kang. We want to have a discussion with him and resolve the misunderstanding, and we wish for the situation to be resolved peacefully. Any legal actions, we will think about later.” 

The official stated, “‘Man From the Stars” started when Park Ji Eun was writing for variety programs a long time ago, and just scribbled down an idea,” once again insisting that the new drama wasn’t plagiarized.

Kang Kyung Ok had posted on his blog that morning, “To put it simply, the Kwang Hae journal is something anyone can write about, but the derivation on the story, of ‘a 400-year-old person who doesn’t age and lives in the present’ and ‘a story of lovers’ is the story I wrote in ‘Seol Hee.’”

The cartoonist continued, “The atmosphere, the male and female characters, and the order in which events unfold may be different, but the foundation of the story is too similar. The ‘Seol Hee’ series is still ongoing, and there is the uncomfortable question of what readers of my comic will think after watching the drama.”

Source