Viewer Complaints Over Drunk Driving Scene in “Lovely Runner”

Criticism arose for tvN’s latest drama, “The Midnight Romance in Hagwon,”for featuring a scene in which a character drives under the influence. As a result, the production team issued an apology and removed the contentious scene from VOD and reruns.

tvN has faced criticism for its drunk driving scene before. In episode 13 of the popular drama “Lovely Runner” , which aired on May 20th, the same issue was noticed. Specifically, Im Sol (Kim Hye-yoon) was unable to save Ryu Seon-jae (Byun Woo-seok) and returned to her 34-year-old version, causing concern among viewers.

Im Sol was filming an actor who was sitting and drinking alcohol in a boss-like manner. However, the arrogant actor abruptly stopped filming and made their way to the parking lot, where they got into their car. In response, Im Sol stopped the actor’s car by hitting it with her own vehicle.

Im Sol admonished the actor, “Are you driving while under the influence?”, but was subsequently investigated by the police for being involved in a car accident. Despite the fact that the protagonist did not actually engage in drunk driving, the scene was portrayed in a humorous manner with upbeat background music, leading to confusion among viewers. As “Lovely Runner”gains popularity, some viewers have raised concerns, questioning how such a scene of drunk driving could be depicted so openly.

It is even more disheartening that two tvN dramas have caused controversy for featuring drunk driving scenes simultaneously.