Postponed drama 'Dear. M' premieres first in Japan

Poster of Dear. M starring actor Park Hye-soo as the lead [VIKI]

Romance drama "Dear. M," which had postponed its release in Korea after its lead actor Park Hye-soo was revealed to be at the center of an alleged school bullying scandal, premiered in Japan.

The show began streaming last month on the Japanese video streaming platform U-Next and Viki.

"Dear. M" is a college romance series about a group of students who set out to uncover the identity of anonymous writer M behind a controversial post against the school on a public forum. Park portrays a business administration major Ma Joo-a, and K-pop boy band NCT member Jaehyun portrays a computer science major Cha Min-ho.

In January 2021, Park was accused of having bullied other students during middle and high school. Though the actor and her agency denied the allegations, numerous accounts of her bullying and pieces of evidence against Park have been revealed.

Two days before "Dear. M" was set to go on air in February, KBS announced that it will not be broadcasting "Dear. M" until Park's bullying charges are cleared by the police.

The actor's agency has sued the accusers and investigations are still ongoing. Park has halted all her activities since the controversy.

Park entered the public eye as an aspiring singer on the audition show "K-pop Star 4" in 2014. She debuted as an actor in 2015 through a supporting role in SBS's "Yong Pal." She has since then starred in dramas and films such as JTBC's "Age of Youth" (2016) and the movie "Samjin Company English Class" (2020).

BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]