Director Pyo Jae-sun recalls being summoned by Korean Central Intelligence Agency during production of 'The 1st Republic'

Director Pyo Jae-sun revealed that he and a writer were summoned by the Korean Central Intelligence Agency for several days during the production of 'The 1st Republic' due to controversy over a character's depiction.

Director Pyo Jae-sun, who entered the broadcasting industry as an assistant director at TBC and led the golden age of MBC dramas, shared behind-the-scenes stories of drama production during a period of intense upheaval. The stories, shared via Song Seung-whan's Wonderful Life, include the hardships faced during the production of the political drama 'The 1st Republic' and anecdotes surrounding the contract for '500 Years of Joseon Dynasty'.

Assistant director days without knowing how to make storyboards and the move from TBC to MBC

Director Pyo Jae-sun recalled his early days starting as an assistant director at TBC. He revealed that during that time, the concept of storyboards was scarce, and when he was tasked with producing a single-act drama by a senior, he did not even know how to create a storyboard. He explained that he learned how to draw storyboards from a PD from Japan's TBS who was affiliated with TBC at the time, and began his serious path in directing after receiving training from PD Kim Ji-hyeok, whom he had known since his university research days.

After working at TBC for nearly three years, seven staff members, including Pyo, were scouted to move to MBC when the station opened in 1969. Following this, as MBC entered its golden age of dramas, Pyo played a role in planning major works such as 'The 1st Republic' and '500 Years of Joseon Dynasty'.

Production of 'The 1st Republic' and memories of being summoned by the Korean Central Intelligence Agency

During a time when planning political dramas was not easy, Pyo shared the tense situations he faced while planning 'The 1st Republic'. Considering the atmosphere of the early regime, the planning was pushed forward based on the judgment that production had to be completed within one year of the regime taking power. However, the production faced a crisis when a controversy arose regarding the glorification of spies.

He revealed that because the depiction of a character in the drama as a national hero became an issue, he and the writer were summoned to the Korean Central Intelligence Agency and underwent investigation for several days. In the historical context of strict censorship at the time, the consequences brought by the character depiction in the drama proved to be a great hardship for the production team.

The twist the day before the '500 Years of Joseon Dynasty' contract and the return one year later

The conflicting fates of drama production companies surrounding the major work '500 Years of Joseon Dynasty' were also mentioned. Pyo said that while preparing this project with writer Shin Bong-seung, they coordinated all contract terms and were so prepared that they toasted to celebrate the night before the contract. However, he recalled the moment of great emptiness the next morning when he heard news just before the signing that the writer had signed a contract with KBS.

At the time, KBS secured the contract by putting forward the justification of budget and being a national broadcaster, but Pyo explained the process by which the project returned to MBC after the one-year contract period ended. Ultimately, '500 Years of Joseon Dynasty' was produced by MBC and continued as part of historical education.

Source: original video (YouTube)