Why New Hit K-Drama “When The Phone Rings” Cancels Scheduled Broadcast At The Last Minute

Fans are devastated.
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Tegan Sweeting
Tegan Sweeting

MBC‘s new K-drama, When The Phone Rings, adapted from Geoneomulnyeo‘s Webtoon, has the internet in a chokehold. It stars Yoo Yeon Seok and Chae Soo Bin.

Paik Sa-Eon (Yoo Yeon-Seok) comes from a prestigious political family and he became the youngest presidential spokesman in Korea. His background also includes time spent as a war correspondent, hostage negotiator, and main anchorman. He married Hong Hee-Joo (Chae Soo-Bin) 3 years ago. She is the daughter of a newspaper proprietor. She has mutism due to an accident she had when she was little. She works as a sign language interpreter in court and on television. Paik Sa-Eon & Hong Hee-Joo got married largely due to convenience. For the past 3 years, they haven’t communicated with each other or have meals together. They pretend they are a happily married couple. One day, Hong Hee-Joo is kidnapped by an unidentified person. This changes their marriage life.

โ€” AsianWiki

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With the lead actors’ chemistry and “BookTok” vibes, it’s become a hit with viewers on the edge of their seats, anticipating new episodes each week.

International distributor Netflix is well aware, too, as a preview scene was released ahead of the release of Episodes 5 and 6. This only fueled more anticipation…

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…and netizens eagerly woke up to watch on Friday, only to find out that the broadcast had been canceled.

The cause is political. Previously, it was reported that on Tuesday, December 3, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared an “emergency martial law” via a televised briefing, promising to “eradicate pro-North Korean forces and protect the constitutional democratic order.” He accused the opposition of โ€œcontrolling the parliament,โ€ โ€œsympathizingโ€ with North Korea, and immobilizing the government through anti-state actions.

President Yoon Suk Yeol | Kim Hong-Ji/AP
President Yoon Suk Yeol | Kim Hong-Ji/AP

The National Assembly quickly demanded the President’s emergency martial law to be lifted. All 190 attending members (out of 300 total members) voted unanimously to block the martial law.

Speaker of the National Assembly Woo Won Sik
Speaker of the National Assembly Woo Won Sik
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| @NJBUBBLEGUM/X

While the martial law was lifted, South Korea is preparing for an impeachment vote for President Yoon. The vote is expected to take place on Saturday, which is when When The Phone Rings’ Episode 6 was originally scheduled to broadcast.

Consequently, MBC released a statement ahead of when Episode 5 was scheduled, announcing that both Episodes 5 and 6 have been canceled for this week. Instead, it’s been scheduled to broadcast next week on December 13 and 14, respectively. MBC explained that it was due to special news reports taking over the K-Dramas’ time slot.

Although a valid reason, fans of When The Phone Rings are naturally upset.

They wished the announcement hadn’t been made at the last minute.

They’re sad to have to wait another whole week, as everyone had been eagerly anticipating the release this week.

Some are tempted to rewatch Episodes 1-4, but many have already.

On the other hand, some are joking that it makes sense to postpone When The Phone Rings due to the potential impeachment, as Sae Eon is the presidential spokesman in Korea.

If viewers were not already frustrated, MBC released a preview for Episode 6 without Episode 5’s release.

Hopefully, Episodes 5 and 6 will be worth the wait. We’ll find out next weekend.

Source: AsianWiki
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