Expanding its South Korean drama catalog and obsession, Netflix dropped a brand-new dystopian K-drama last week. However, even before the show’s premiere, the title had already triggered a debate fest and boycott calls. Ironically, the series is also called Trigger.

Starring award-winning actors Kim Nam Gil, aka ‘The Fiery Priest,’ and Kim Young Kwang, who is one of the ‘Model Avengers,’ the action thriller prompted heated discussions. Many speculated that Trigger potentially drew real-life inspirations from the rare recent gun violence incident in Songdo, Incheon, that saw a man in his 60s fatally shooting his son amidst a birthday celebration. K-drama director Kwon Oh Seung tried his all to shut down the speculations, refuting any association with the real-world tragedy.

Why Kim Nam Gil’s Netflix K-drama Trigger faced boycott calls

None of that was enough to convince the local audiences in South Korea. The eerily coincidental timing of the K-drama’s premiere was not the only issue perturbing the home country viewers. While hot debates on gun rights still continue to be an divisive issue in the US, the deadly weapon’s ubiquity is not a familiar concept in South Korea. The Asian country maintains an arduous process of obtaining a gun license. Moreover, with extremely strict gun regulations and a near-total ban on civilian ownership of firearms in place, such a conversation becomes a matter that may easily outrage people’s modesty.

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Unfortunately, the Kim Nam Gil-starrer K-drama came out just days after the real-life tragedy in South Korea. The show explores the unprecedented boom of illegal gun distribution in a once-gun free country. As a result, the drama’s action particularly revolves around growing gun crimes.

Further attempting to de-escalate the situation, director Kwon Oh Seung clarified that the emerging connection between the Trigger K-drama and the Incheon incident were purely coincidental. “The case and the work will be clearly distinguished,” (literal English translation) he asserted during a press outing for the Netflix series. The regret-filled director also said, “I was heartbroken that a sad accident occurred. I hope it never happens. I’m sorry.”

Despite his explanation, Netflix ended up cancelling a livestream for the thriller series’ promotional event in the wake of the rare gun-related crime. The platform did not formally cite a reason for the cancellation, but the decision was presumably prompted by the obvious reason tied to the shooting.

Trigger’s promising debut on OTT, Rotten Tomatoes despite backlash

While the show faced its share of setbacks in the offline setting, on the OTT scene it soared above and beyond. For the week staring from July 21 and ending on July 27, Trigger earned the No 1 rank on the Netflix Top 10 Shows in South Korea roster, leaving behind Park Bo Gum and Kim So Hyun’s Good Boy, and even Squid Game Season 3. Meanwhile, on the Global Top 10 Non-English Shows roster it debuted at No 4 with 25,00,000 views, merely two days after its premiere.

On top of that, over on the Rotten Tomatoes, the show debuted to a perfect 100% Tomatometer score.

Netflix K-drama leading actor’s BTS connection

For the unversed, Kim Nam Gil takes the lead as a former military sniper-turned-police officer. The highly sought-after actor is best known for his contributions to dramas like The Fiery Priest, The Fiery Priest 2, Through the Darkness, and Island. Prior to his Trigger outing, he led another Netflix drama called Song of the Bandits in 2023. He is also most recently credited for a cameo appearance in the streamer’s 2025 series Karma.

Beyond dominating the South Korean acting scene, he is also the founder and CEO of a non-profit organisation Gilstory. The once-Forbes-featured (Korea 2020) has even earned a reputation for his top movie outings. However, most prominent of all remains his breakthrough role in the early 2000s period drama Queen Seondeok, which even won BTS Jin’s heart.

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BTS fans have long desired for their ‘Actor Jin’ agenda to come alive. While that still remains a dream yet to come to fruition, it earned a fruitful mention in the K-pop idol’s biography, as translated into English by fans online, years ago. The eldest member of the sensational South Korean band once admitted that a certain K-drama star spurred his own dreams of becoming an actor. That multi-faceted talent is none other than Kim Nam Gil, whose portrayal of his Queen Seondeok character Bidam encouraged Jin to major in film studies during his university days.

Jin and Nam Gill even ran into each other at the 35th Golden Disc Awards, an incident that previously earned a mention during an interview for the Season’s Greetings 2022. In addition to naming Kim his role model and an inspiration, the Astronaut hit-maker has long referred to the actor as a close friend.

They’ve both appeared alongside each other across vlogs and affectionately name-dropped the other in their respective variety show appearances. Kim Nam Gil even came out as a special guest on an episode of Drunken Truth, a variety show featuring BTS’ Jin and celebrity chef Baek Jong Won, offering a never-before-seen side to the singer-actor duo’s friendship.