Ratings hit 20% for 'Manager Kim' → "Moseupno": Lissene's 'Ilbe Controversy' [Star Issue] [Comprehensive]

*This content was translated by AI.

The rising star 'Manager Kim' and Lissene have been caught in a controversy over the sudden emergence of 'Ilbe'.

SBS's Saturday-Sunday drama 'Manager Kim' surpassed 20% ratings within just four episodes. The fourth episode, aired on the 4th, recorded an average rating of 22.7% in the Seoul metropolitan area and 21.6% nationwide according to Nielsen Korea, with a peak instantaneous rating of 25.1%, setting a new record for the series. Breaking through 20% national ratings within only four episodes is faster than 'The Fiery Priest', 'Stove League', or 'The Penthouse 2'.

As the popularity of the work grows, past allegations surrounding the original webtoon author Park Tae-jun related to 'Ilbe' have resurfaced.

Recently, a YouTube channel raised suspicions that certain scenes from the webtoon 'Lookism' contained expressions reminiscent of the far-right online community 'Daily Best Storage (Ilbe)'.

The channel argued that a scene where a character checks a stopwatch and says "5 minutes 23 seconds" evokes May 23, the date of the late Roh Moo-hyun's death. Additionally, it was claimed that the phrase 'Rock Owling' written behind the speech bubble recalls the place of Roh's death, known as Owl Rock.

Park had previously been embroiled in Ilbe controversies in both 2015 and 2021. At the time, he firmly denied the allegations, stating, "No matter how inadequate I may be as a person, I am neither capable nor courageous enough to do such things using photos of the deceased."

However, as 'Manager Kim' continues its box office success, past controversies are resurfacing again. Some online communities are even calling for a boycott of the series.

The 'Ilbe controversy' continues over Lissene member Won's use of the phrase "Moseupno." The dispute arose after Kim Hyun-ji, director of the documentary film 'Adult Kim Jang-ha', pointed out on social media on the 1st that the expression "Moseupno" used by Won and her production team in their YouTube content constituted an "Ilbe-style hate speech."

Won is from Geoje, Gyeongsangnam-do, and has long showcased content utilizing local dialects. Following the remarks, some claimed the phrase was used by Ilbe users, while others countered that it is a natural expression commonly used in the Gyeongsangnam region, sparking ongoing debate.

In response, Cho Kuk of the Rebuilding Korea Party posted on his Facebook on the 5th: "Some people in Busan and Yeongnam defend Ilbe's practice of adding 'no' at the end of sentences to mock President Roh Moo-hyun." He added, "For rebuttal, please refer to the following distinction used by a person from Busan." He further stated, "From my observation, Ilbe mechanically adds 'no' after standard Korean. In Yeongnam dialect interrogative sentences, 'na' and 'no' are distinguished: 'na' is used when confirming yes or no, while 'no' is used when requesting specific situational explanations."

In contrast, language expert Professor Ahn Tae-hyung of Dong-A University's Basic Liberal Arts College previously explained in a broadcast interview that "in the southeastern dialect, 'no' is used not only for interrogatives but also for self-talk and exclamations," noting that using it to express exclamation, as in "Wow, how sleepy I am no," is a natural expression of the Gyeongsangnam dialect.

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*This content was translated by AI.