Many people are expressing their sorrow over the recent tragic news that actor Jeon Seung-jae passed away after a two-year battle with illness. This comes two years after he suddenly collapsed from a cerebral hemorrhage while waiting to film the KBS historical drama ‘Goryeo–Khitan War’ in 2024. While the passion to create a drama is certainly worthy of respect, the reality of these continuous unfortunate accidents raises a bitter question: Is the
safety issue on historical drama filming sets truly a chronic problem?
The news of Jeon Seung-jae’s passing once again rings an alarm about the poor working conditions and lack of safety awareness in drama production. It’s time we can no longer ignore the hard work of actors and staff hidden behind glamorous visuals, and the risks they have to endure.
The Tragic News of Actor Jeon Seung-jae and the Harsh Reality of Historical Drama Sets
Actor Jeon Seung-jae collapsed from a cerebral hemorrhage in early 2024 while waiting to film ‘Goryeo–Khitan War,’ was hospitalized, and battled his illness for two years. On July 29, 2026, he passed away at the age of 47. His death deeply shocked fellow actors, staff, and the public. Historical drama filming, by its nature, involves more risks than regular dramas.
- Long filming hours and waiting times: Due to frequent location shoots, travel times are long, and outdoor filming often involves extensive waiting periods.
- Harsh environments: Heavy costumes and makeup, poor conditions on outdoor sets, and filming regardless of the season lead to extreme fatigue for actors and staff.
- Action and dangerous scenes: There are many perilous action scenes such as falls from horses, battles, and chases, always posing a risk of minor and major injuries.
This reality clearly reveals the
harsh truth of historical drama filming sets. In fact, from 2014 to 2018, a total of 164 accidents occurred on broadcast and film sets, including one fatal accident.
Poor Historical Drama Filming Conditions: A Chronic Problem?
The production of historical dramas is an endeavor that requires immense capital and manpower. Set construction, costumes, makeup, props, and other elements cost significantly more than modern dramas, and the preparation and filming periods are longer, tending to increase production costs. However, despite high production costs, the drama production environment remains challenging. It is also pointed out that securing production funds is even more difficult for historical dramas due to the nature of their difficulty in incorporating PPL (product placement).
- Inadequate safety management: Production companies often neglect safety measures to cut costs, or the responsibility for accidents is unclear when they occur.
- Precarious employment: Many staff members are freelancers, making it difficult for them to receive proper protection under the Industrial Safety and Health Act, and even harder to get workers’ compensation recognized.
- Animal cruelty controversies: In the past, controversies over horse abuse during historical drama filming led KBS to establish animal safety production guidelines, and animal welfare issues have been consistently raised.
As such, historical drama filming sets are plagued with long-standing, unaddressed issues. It is pointed out that structural problems, which cannot simply be dismissed as an individual actor’s misfortune, continue to recur.
The Importance of Safety Amidst Changing Historical Drama Trends
Recently, Korean historical dramas have evolved from traditional, historically accurate sagas to fusion historical dramas that incorporate modern sensibilities and imagination. Works like Netflix’s ‘Kingdom’ have achieved great success in the global market, elevating the status of
K-historical dramas, and various anticipated works such as ‘Munmu’ and ‘High School Queen’ are scheduled to air in 2026.
- Utilization of AI technology: Recently, attempts have even emerged to produce historical dramas solely with AI, without actors or sets. This demonstrates the potential for changes in the production environment.
- Combination of various genres: By combining with various genres such as romance, fantasy, comedy, and thriller, the audience base is expanding.
While the scope of historical dramas is continuously expanding, the safety and welfare of the production environment behind them remain stagnant. While technological advancements and changing trends are important, establishing a safe production environment where people come first must be prioritized. Only then can actors and staff create good works in a healthy manner.
To prevent the tragic passing of actor Jeon Seung-jae from recurring, urgent practical discussions and institutional support for improving safety and welfare on historical drama filming sets are needed. It is time for everyone to put their heads together and deliberate so that his sacrifice is not in vain.