“Marry My Husband” Original Webtoon’s “Islamophobic” Storyline Resurfaces Amid K-Drama’s Popularity
Content Warning
Spoiler Alert
Despite its popularity, tvN K-Drama Marry My Husband has been entangled in controversy.
A woman who was murdered after witnessing her husband’s affair with her best friend, returns to ten years earlier and begins her second life.
— Wikipedia
Its lead actress Park Min Young has been the subject of a scandal. On January 15, Dispatch shocked fans revealing that Park Min Young had received a large sum of money from her controversial ex-boyfriend, Kang Jong Hyun, during their relationship. However, she previously claimed she hadn’t. Consequently, her K-Drama has faced a boycott.
- I’m going to boycott.
- She returned so quickly after the original controversy, and now look what that has done to the drama.
- Ah, this is frustrating because the drama is fun. I watched it for Lee Yi Kyung to begin with, but this is so frustrating.
- This is why I am not watching her drama. I won’t be watching any of her dramas in the future, either.
- Leave the drama industry, LOL.
- Wow, I am boycotting her drama.
- This is why I don’t watch Park Min Young’s dramas.
- This is why I am not going to watch her drama, no matter how popular it is.
- What’s going to happen to the drama?
- Wow, ₩250 million KRW (about $190,000 USD)? I’m not going to watch it…
Yet, that’s not the only reason why some netizens are boycotting.
Marry My Husband is famously based on the web novel and Webtoon of the same name. There is an original storyline that many consider problematic.
If you read the Webtoon in English now, Chapters 17-19 contain a press release concerning the characters’ company. Its headline reads, “U&K Food goes international, Introduces instant halal food.” Halal food is a dietary law derived from Islamic teachings.
Yet, a translation of the original Korean webtoon has been circulated. In that version, the press release’s headline read, “U&K Food, To the world beyond Korea, introduces halal instant food that 1.6 billion Muslims will be enthusiastic about.
Likewise, in the English version, a newspaper headline read, “U&K confirms opening of overseas branch offices. U&K stocks hit another high,” while the translated Korean version read, “Arab branch established confirmed! U&K stock price cap again.”
A character’s manager called them out and accused them of plagiarism when shown an article with the headline, “Huge flop for U&K Food: a competitor launches wide range of instant halal food first.” The Webtoon also included a bubble with the text, “THE COMMENTS SECTION IS BEING FLOODED WITH ANGRY COMMENTS.”
On the other hand, according to netizens, in the translation of the Korean version, that bubble’s text read, “ISLAMIC FORCES KIDNAPPED AND EVEN KILLED KOREANS!” The headline was also vastly different.
It read, “Korean volunteer group detained by radical Islamist group.” In that article, it claimed an extreme Islamist group detained Korean volunteers working in South Sudan. Consequently, the company’s stock price plummeted with the introduction of the Halal food line, and the employee was scolded and referred to as “Halal girl.”
Netizens have commented on a concerned TikToker’s video, confirming that this storyline really did happen. According to the readers, at the time, the author was being Islamaphobic and racist.
Another netizen who read the Marry My Husband Webtoon said their translation included a storyline where the company was criticized for launching Halal food because 9/11 occurred. Others remembered the same.
So, netizens are also boycotting Marry My Husband, claiming the source material is Islamophobic. They believe that consuming either version gives a platform to racism.
everyone watching marry my husband i wonder if u know the writer is islamophobic or u actually do but dgaf which honestly is worse
— kay (@adorsang) January 9, 2024
a healthy reminder that the source material of the kdrama #MarryMyHusband is islamophobic and you watching and talking about it gives a platform to that nasty islamaphobe
— leen (@guwonfans) January 1, 2024
@j_watches Replying to @ye *shocked in hijab* #j_watches #marrymyhusband #marrymyhusbandwebtoon #webtoons #manhwa #kdrama #kdramafypシ #fypシ
The original novel contained the offensive storyline. After criticism, LICO Corp., a subsidiary of Naver Webtoon, which is responsible for publishing the webtoon version of Marry My Husband, apologized and edited the problematic chapters. Yet, netizens don’t recall the author ever apologizing.
However it was only from LICO which is the artist in charge of the drawing and not the author of the manhwa (2/2)
— tea (@siradamandtea) May 11, 2022
Marry My Husband K-Drama is ongoing and available for international streaming via Prime Video.
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