Award of "Meet Yourself" Won't be Withdrawn Despite "Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha" Plagiarism Allegation

Controversy has arisen as the Chinese drama Meet Yourself, which has faced allegations of plagiarizing the South Korean drama Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, was selected as one of the two winners of the Best TV Series Awards at the Seoul Drama Awards, the other one being the Greek thriller series Act Like You're Asleep.

On September 8th, an official from the Korea Broadcasting Association, which organizes the Seoul Drama Awards, stated, "We became aware of the suspicion that Meet Yourself plagiarized Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha after the announcement of the award recipients. Just because there are allegations of plagiarism online, we cannot arbitrarily say that the award has been withdrawn".

They further mentioned, "There are currently no changes in the award winners".

The Korea Broadcasting Association also explained, "According to our internal policy, if a work promotes conflicts between nations, races, or ethnicities or if it is involved in a legal dispute, we take immediate action. However, [in this case] there was no legal dispute related to plagiarism".

Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha is a tvN drama starring actors Kim Seon Ho and Shin Min Ah. It revolves around a dentist, Yoon Hye Jin (Shin Min Ah), who meets a versatile jobless man, Hong Doo Shik (Kim Seon Ho), in a seaside village called Gongjin. It was a remake of the Korean movie Hong and aired from August to October 2021.

Meet Yourself tells the story of a woman who used to live in the city and comes to a small village for a tranquil life and a man who has returned to his hometown and helps in its growth. The drama features renowned Chinese actors Crystal Liu and Li Xian as the leads. 

Controversy of plagiarism arose when viewers spotted similarities between Meet Yourself and Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, such as the initial meeting between the female and male protagonists led by a pair of slippers and the constant appearance of the male lead whenever the female lead faces trouble in the village. There were even comments about the similarity of the opening logos. 

The Seoul Drama Awards will be held from September 20th to September 22nd.

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