Upcoming Netflix K-Drama Receives Backlash Over Male Lead and Second Lead
Kim Seon Ho is facing controversy again with his newest Netflix K-Drama Can This Love Be Translated?
The show’s official poster and teaser dropped on December 17, 2025 (KST), starring Go Youn Jung and Kim Seon Ho. Fans didn’t react well.
Kim Seon Ho still hasn’t escaped his 2021 scandal. This casting news stirred backlash like when he was cast in Disney+’s Portraits of Delusion. Viewers criticized him taking male lead roles alongside popular female leads.
“I would really like to stop seeing Kim Seon Ho on the screens.”
“They don’t even look good together.”
“Man, I like Go Youn Jung, damn it.”
“How come this dude gets cast in male lead roles all the time?!”
“I want to watch this for Go Youn Jung, but there are too many issues at hand here…”
Fans also targeted the show’s second lead, Japanese actor Sota Fukushi, over his past. In 2015, Fukushi appeared in a documentary where he expressed respect for his grandfather, a kamikaze pilot candidate, sparking accusations of nationalism.
Korean viewers dubbed Fukushi “right-wing,” citing his patriotic and pro-military sentiments and criticized his casting.
“You know what? Unless it’s a Japanese colonial-era police officer role, can we please not cast Japanese actors?”
“Hates Korea and defends the Japanese colonial era… but still wants to snag that K-Drama romantic second lead vibes, huh?”
“Sota was already known in Japan for being bad at acting, and now they picked him up and are casting him in Korea? That’s funny lol. Total chaos, it seems.”
The controversy doesn’t stop with the cast. The scriptwriters are the Hong Sisters, who have faced multiple plagiarism allegations in the past. This combo led viewers to call the K-Drama “too problematic to watch.”
“Why produce something that no one wants?”
“Look at this lineup… I absolutely won’t watch this.”
“From the writers to the actors, there’s nothing worth seeing.”
“Hope it flops.”
“Can we just snatch Go Youn Jung out of this?”
“Why do K-Dramas keep mixing in these Japanese elements?”
“Boycott.”
Can This Love Be Translated? is set to premiere on January 16, 2026.
“사람들은 다 각자의 언어로 말한다고 하셨죠. 저 그 사람이 하는 말을 잘 못 알아듣는 거 같아요.”
다중언어 통역사 주호진과 글로벌 톱스타 차무희의 예측 불가 로맨틱 코미디 , 2026년 1월 16일 공개. 오직 넷플릭스에서. pic.twitter.com/nDHxXoxqcG
— Netflix Korea｜넷플릭스 코리아 (@NetflixKR) December 18, 2025