Formal charges have been filed and submitted to the prosecution for the horse abuse case featured in the KBS1 historical drama 'The King of Tears, Lee Bang Won,' which caused a massive controversy in January 2022.

According to the Korea Animal Welfare Association (KAWA), on February 2, the director, martial arts director, horse rider team manager, and broadcaster KBS were all found guilty of violating the Animal Protection Act and forwarded to the prosecution.

The director, martial arts director, and horse rider team manager were charged with animal abuse (Article 8, Paragraph 2, Item 4 of the Animal Protection Act) for causing physical pain or injury without justifiable grounds. KBS was charged with violating the Animal Protection Act. In addition to punishing the broadcast corporation, the charge of imposing a fine under the corresponding article (Article 46-2 of the Animal Protection Act) was applied.

Previously, in filming a dangerous falling horse scene in January 2022, the production team of 'The King of Tears, Lee Bang Won' tied a wire to a horse's hind legs and let it run. The horse ran at full speed carrying the adult man until the team pulled the string to make the horse purposely fall.

Several staff members pulled the wire simultaneously, and the horse fell headfirst, severely injuring his neck. In the end, the horse died within a week of filming the stunt scene.

KAWA filed a complaint against the production team for animal abuse, and the drama had to pause filming. A few weeks after, KBS released an official apology stating, "Recently, an unfortunate accident occurred during the filming of the drama 'The King of Tears, Lee Bang Won.' KBS is deeply aware of its responsibility for not protecting the life of an animal involved in the filming of the drama, and once again, we deeply apologize to the viewers and the public."