Son Ye Jin’s drama “Thirty Nine” receives negative comments for romanticizing cheating in a marriage  

The story revolving around an extramarital affair in “Thirty Nine” does not sit right with many viewers. 

“Thirty Nine” has only broadcast half of its episodes, but has already come under controversy over its plot. While the cast and their acting have drawn many compliments, the writer is facing criticism for allegedly glamorizing an extramarital affair and trying to make the audience pity a cheating husband. 

“Thirty Nine” centers on three female friends, Mi Jo (Son Ye Jin), Chan Young (Jeon Mi Do) and Ju Hee (Kim Ji Hyun) who are experiencing the last year of their 30s. Ahead of turning 40, Chan Young finds out she has cancer and does not have much time left to live, so her friends go all out to make the remaining time Chan Young has the most memorable days of her life. 

Chan Young has had romantic feelings for Mi Jo’s high school friend Kim Jin Seok for a long time. However, because of family circumstances, Chan Young could not leave Korea with Jin Seok to study abroad after high school and parted ways with him then. Jin Seok later got married to his current wife Kang Sun Joo after she got pregnant. However, he still has feelings for Chan Young and meets her.

Jin Seok leaves Sun Joo after saying he wants to break up the marriage due to accelerated tension between them. He also knows that the baby Sun Joo gave birth to is not his biological son. He comes to see Chan Young and has dinner at her house. Sun Joo rushes to Chan Young’s place to find her husband but Mi Jo stops her from ruining the happy day.

After that, Mi Jo kneels down and begs Sun Joo to leave. She wants to make sure Chan Young has a joyful memory with Jin Seok with no interruption. Mi Jo ends up passing out on the street. Despite showing the strong friendship of the female leads and the regrettably complicated relationship between Sun Joo and Jin Seok, “Thirty Nine” still faces criticism for romanticizing adultery:

• “Well, I’m questioning the scriptwriter’s thinking!”
• “It’s a drama I’m looking forward to but all the characters make me unhappy so I won’t watch it. It makes me wonder if the writer herself is having an affair? “
• “That’s crazy!”
• “Really if I were her friend, I’d let her get caught by her hair to wake her up!”
• “I didn’t like the setting and the script but the actors acted so well that it was a pity.”

Netizens emphasized that this was the writer’s fault, not the actors’. The production crew of “Thirty Nine” has not yet commented on this issue.