Actors Byeon Woo Seok and Kim Hye Yoon's promotional advertisement for their drama Lovely Runner has been removed after it received dozens of public complaints.

The subway ad, which depicts the couple posing together romantically, in character, accrued 40 complaints and was subsequently pulled down by transportation authorities.

Nearly a year after the drama's airing, the couple received acclaim for their impressive performance, netting multiple awards including fan-favorite categories, voted for by fans, at various award shows.

The influx of complaints, however, seems to be from those who object to the actors' pairing.

As per South Korea's transportation policy, a single complaint is enough to mandate the removal of an ad.

Following 40 complaints, the subway ad was swiftly removed.

Fan voting service Giftly, proprietors of the ad, posted on a notice board on its website on January 22, according to Star Today.

"We will inform you of how Byeon Woo-suk & Kim Hye-yoon's advertisement, which ranks first in the season vote in November, was suspended on January 17th (Friday)," the service said in a statement.

"After the advertisement was posted, more than 40 complaints were received from the Korea Transportation Corporation asking why the two came out together. Due to the internal policy of the Korea Transportation Corporation, if even one complaint occurs, the advertisement has to be stopped, so we have to stop it urgently."

"We tried to resume it, but it was impossible due to continuous complaints. After revising the design with the understanding of the person who selected the draft, we reviewed all subway stations other than Konkuk University Station, but it was rejected for the same reason."

"The Korea Transportation Corporation and the Ministry of Deliberation proposed a 'proposal in which Byun Woo-suk and Kim Hye-yoon appear for 10 seconds each' and tried to replace it with another proposal, but we received a response that it was impossible to proceed with the advertisement itself because civil complaints are still occurring."

The service added that they'd received a warning from the Korea Transportation Corporation that they may experience difficulty in the future to post advertisements through their service Giftry, due to civil complaints.

"If these complaints continue to occur, not only Byeon Woo-suk and Kim Hye-yoon can also be difficult to advertise through us, but all subway advertisements themselves, so we sincerely ask fans to stop the complaints with a little generous heart," Giftly pleaded.