The character poster for TVING’s original drama 'Dear X' has come under fire for bearing a striking resemblance to the poster of the Chinese film 'Suspect X' (2017), an adaptation of Keigo Higashino’s novel 'The Devotion of Suspect X.'
On September 9, posts comparing the two posters began circulating online, sparking heated debate. Netizens reacted with comments such as "It’s not just similar, it’s identical," "I thought it was the male and female version," and "I would’ve believed it was a remake."
Some went further, accusing the production of plagiarism. They commented, "This is just plagiarizing..." "I'm a fan of the original... Please be mindful," "Wow, it's exactly the same," "The film was so famous. Why did they copy the poster?" "It's so similar that it's embarrassing," "What was the designer thinking?" "This movie was so famous. I even know the poster," "Did the designer really think they could get away with blatantly copying another poster?" "Wow, that's just the same," and "They copied the colors, composition, and even the typography."
Adding to the confusion is the fact that both works include "X" in their titles, leading some to mistakenly assume 'Dear X' was an official Korean remake of 'The Devotion of Suspect X.' Although the two projects are unrelated, many netizens criticized that the Korean drama’s poster looked like a direct copy of the Chinese version.
'Dear X' is based on a Naver webtoon and tells the story of characters who, after witnessing the tragic death of a first love, become entangled again ten years later, uncovering secrets and hidden truths. Combining tight suspense with romance, it has been considered one of the most anticipated OTT releases.
Meanwhile, the Chinese film 'Suspect X' starred Wang Kai, Zhang Luyi, and Ruby Lin, winning Best Picture and Best Actor awards at the time.
While cases of China plagiarizing or copying popular Korean content are frequently reported, this time the controversy turned the other way, with some asking whether Korea had copied from China, leaving many commenters calling the situation "embarrassing."
In response, the 'Dear X' production team deleted the controversial poster and issued an apology: "We sincerely apologize for the discomfort caused by our lack of attention during the production process. We will strengthen our review process to ensure this does not happen again."
'Dear X' is set to premiere on TVING this November.
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