Their point (screenshot) is understandable. However, 《Perfect Crown》 is not about "historical accuracy":

1. It is set in 2025/2026, not in a historical period

2. The characters repeatedly said they are not in a Joseon society

3. They clearly stated it is an "Alternate Reality" genre

4. The introduction explained that Joseon lasted for 600 years

5. Sometime after 1992 and before 2002 it became a Constitutional Monarchy

Again, it is understandable why they are reacting that way. Their culture gives more emphasis on "historical accuracy" than the story and the fact that it is fiction. To their defense, the Americans also did not like the alternate reality movie adaptation of the novel 《Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter》 because they cannot imagine Abraham Lincoln as such. And in fairness, many of my own countrymen reacted very negatively when Dan Brown referred to Manila as 「gates of hell」 in 《Inferno》.

I do admit also that there were times when I reacted similarly to some fiction about our own culture and nation. So, yes, it is understandable. I am not invalidating nor attacking them.

Just that, for the sake of enjoying it, we should at least make an effort to remember that it diverged from our reality. In this case:

1. The Japanese occupation did not happen

2. The Korean War did not happen

Think of it this way, would a late-Joseon person be able to relate to early-Joseon society? Would they not find their royal traditions odd or too different?

Queen Mother as Regent

The first Queen Mother who acted as regent was in 1468. Prior to that it was strictly not allowed. That is the history in our reality and in 《Perfect Crown》. A major change happened in the royal court system. In other words, it is not far-fetched for an alternate reality story to choose the Grand Prince as the regent for the fictional Constitutional Monarchy.

It signals to us that the extra 100+ years of the Joseon kingdom, and the years since the Constitutional Monarchy replaced it, there were a lot changes that happened as compared to our own reality. It tells us that the Unbroken Korea with a Continuous Monarchy shaped this fictional modern Korea differently.

Final word

The "alternate reality" genre is often very different from traditional fiction. It is often set in the world that we know but at some point in our shared history, there was a major divergence. In this case, the Japanese occupation and Korean War did not happen, which allowed the Joseon kingdom to exist for an additional 100 years, and then it transformed into a Constitutional Monarchy.

There will be similarities but there will also be differences, and that should be expected. Do not let these prevent you from enjoying 《Perfect Crown》. Think of it as happening in a parallel world or in a branched timeline.

Cover image: 《Perfect Crown》, used under the Fair Use doctrine.

This article was first published on Offprint platform on 2026-04-13 @599.78 (22:23:41 UTC+8).

〈Re: 「Historical Inaccuracies」 in 《Perfect Crown》〉 © 2026 Yohan Yukiya Sese Cuneta (ISNI | ORCID iD).
License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC-BY-SA-4.0), except where noted.