Netflix fixes mistranslation in 'When the Phone Rings' over Israel-Palestine reference

SHAH ALAM — Korean drama series 'When the Phone Rings' recently received backlash after appearing to reference the Israel-Palestine conflict in the final episode of the first season.

A scene in the episode featured a reporter covering the conflict between the fictional nations of "Izmael" and "Paltima". The subtitles read "The ongoing Paltima air strikes are taking place in Izmael, where Korean nationals have been kidnapped by armed militants".

Fans protested the depiction of "Paltima", believed to be a stand-in for Palestine, as the aggressor. This was quickly picked up by the public, who posted about the news on their social media.

The situation escalated once fans realised that the dialogue stated that it was in fact "Izmael" who was the aggressor, and that Netflix had mistranslated the subtitle.

Following the outcry, Netflix decided to reword the subtitle, from "The ongoing Paltime airstrikes are taking place in Izmael" to "The ongoing attack on Paltima is taking place in Izmael".

However, despite Netflix's attempt at correcting the situation, many on X (formerly Twitter) claimed that the "damage has been done."

User @nanii.kumalasari said: Fixed or replaced so that the rating is not bad? Meanwhile @hayati0xx, a self-described avid K-drama lover, said that the part ruined the whole show for her.

@serenity_clicks said: "They didn't correct ****. "Taking place in Izmael," wow."

Pro-Palestinian viewers considered it as a pro-Zionist move by the showrunners.

@kdramadaisy on X said: "The choice of words is definitely not a coincidence. It's unrelated to the plot but the production crew just had to insert their Zionist viewpoint," followed by a clown emoji.

Despite Netflix taking steps to correct the subtitle, many viewers have vowed to stop watching the series to protest the oversight.