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The series set a record for the highest Friday-Saturday drama premiere ratings on SBS in 2020, though several factors including the rise of streaming services in South Korea as well as controversies and criticisms affected the domestic TV ratings in later weeks. The series made the Top 10 list of most watched TV shows on Netflix in several countries, ranking #1 in some of them. Vol 37 of Global Hallyu Issue Magazine reported it ranked 9th in the World Ranking list of most watched TV shows, the only Korean Drama in the Top 10 list. It maintained the #1 spot on the weekly Wavve drama chart for eight consecutive weeks. Due to its success, it was singled out as deserving credit for the record-breaking second quarter earnings of Studio Dragon, its production company. "

Commercial Performance
The series premiered to record-breaking Friday-Saturday drama ratings on SBS in 2020. However, competition from streaming services Netflix and Wavve as well as controversies and criticisms led to lower domestic TV ratings in later episodes.

The series achieved international success on Netflix. Global Hallyu Issue Magazine vol 37 of the Korean Foundation for International Culture Exchange (KOFICE) showed the series in 9th place in Netflix World Ranking chart, the only Korean drama in the Top 10 list. The magazine also reported that the series "swept traffic in the densely populated Southeast Asian region - Hong Kong, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, (as well as) Nigeria, etc. It is ranked at the top in the Dominican Republic." . The series also maintained the #1 spot on the weekly Wavve drama chart for eight consecutive weeks since it started airing.

The discrepancy between the domestic TV ratings and the success of the series in the streaming platforms led The Korea Times to conclude, "local viewership is no longer a key metric." Drama critic Eun Goo-seul said, "If these ratings do not reflect the changes in the times, the criteria for determining advertisers who use ratings as a barometer for posting ads will inevitably change."

According to The Bell-Korea, "SBS'The King: The Eternal Lord', which aired this year, and the recently aired KBS weekend drama'Once Again', are also studio dragon's representative works. An industry official said, 'Studio Dragon is the emergence of a new model that was not in the Korean market before... It is thanks to players like Studio Dragon that it was possible to produce a masterpiece drama targeting the global market.'"

On August 6, Studio Dragon announced their record-breaking second quarter earnings of 135 million dollars in total sales, a 25.9% increase over the same period of time the previous year, accrediting the following dramas to have driven much of the growth - Crash Landing on You, The King: Eternal Monarch, and It's Okay to Not Be Okay. According to Hancinema, "'The King: Eternal Monarch' likely deserves most of the credit, as it is the only one of these dramas to have aired entirely during the second quarter." Business Korea also reported, "Studio Dragon's TV series sales climbed 9.3% year-over-year on average amid the growing popularity of K-dramas, particularly The King: Eternal Monarch."

Critical Response
Arab News praised the series commenting, "In a world of mainstream K-dramas filled with cliches and reoccurring themes, 'The King: Eternal Monarch' stands unique and absolutely mind-blowing." Actor Sebastian Roché tweeted, "The King: eternal monarch on netflix, yet another brilliantly imaginative Korean drama written by Kim Eun Suk, as well as Mr Sunshine, Goblin, Descendants of the sun etc, i'm totally addicted, why can't we make romantic dramas anymore, Koreans are the masters of it." The Philippine Cosmopolitan reported, "The drama was smart and ambitious. It's commendable that screenwriter Kim Eun-suk aspired to attract a wider audience by choosing to veer away from tried and tested drama tropes." According to Tiffany Vogt of Television Critics Association, it is a "show about a mystical flute that is broken in two, leading to power struggle between 2 parallel words and 2 lovers traveling through time to discover their soulmate. I adored this phenomenal series. It made my heart stop and then burst with happiness."

Back when the effect of Netflix and Wavve on the domestic TV ratings had not been fully grasped yet, International Business Times surmised that the development of the plot, the editing and the forced scenes were the reasons the series failed to increase its ratings. The Korean Herald claimed that the series failed to present adequate explanation of the parallel universe to the audience who complained of the similarity of the two different worlds, with cultural critic Ha Jae-geun opining, "The story unfolds at a relatively slow pace and the parallel world is too complex to understand. It's hard to find some clever, creative conversations and catchy soundtracks in 'The King'." William Schwartz from Hancinema commented on the directing saying, "The lack of coherent direction has also dampened enthusiasm for the drama,” and expressed that, “Viewers have taken issue with the inconsistent intuitive intelligence shown by the main character .... particularly the unapologetic extent to which characters from the fantasy universe play on uncomfortable gender tropes."

The series was also criticized for the excessive use of product placement, with one episode featuring 7 product placement ads, which was seen as undermining the series's content and artistry.

Cultural Disputes
Following its premiere, an online controversy erupted as Korean viewers noticed that the architecture of the fictional world of the Corean Empire resembled that of Japanese temples, in particular, the Japanese temple complex Tōdai-ji and the temple of Kōfuku-ji. As the series was aired during a time when Korean-Japanese relations were uneasy, the production team issued an apology and stated that the buildings in question would be corrected. As the series progressed into its sixth episode, another controversy occurred as the episode depicted a naval war between Japan and the Corean empire, where the viewers noticed that the Japanese warships had the design of present Korean warships. The producer admitted that the production team used open source and stock images as reference material for the Japanese fleet as they were restricted from filming overseas due to COVID-19 and that they should have consulted experts to review the material.

Another controversy also surfaced in the sixth episode about the image of the dragon in the royal robe and the crown of the King. According to the viewers, Emperor Lee Gon's golden crown was similar to crowns used in the Silla Dynasty and his royal robe with the image of the dragon was mainly used in the Joseon Dynasty, and though the series states that it is not set in any particular dynasty in Korea and is a fantasy, they considered this mistake as a massive mix-up.

Advisory Warnings
On May 14, the Korea Communications Standards Commission issued an advisory warning against the series for scenes that challenged gender equality after viewers complained that those scenes promote fixed gender stereotypes. The scenes in question featured the female prime minister saying, “Bras without wires can’t support the chest,” as well as the scene portraying a boat race where a female spectator said, “Men need to wear less and move around lots.” On the same day, the Korea Communications Standards Commission also issued a warning to the production when the advertising review subcommittee took issue with the indirect advertising seen in episodes 8, 9, and 12 stating that it violated article 47 of the broadcasting regulations.