Film / Television

The $#!t has hit the fan: Han Ye-seul leaves country, “Spy” to replace her

Written by Amy On August 15, 2011

I’ve been in Kpop for a long time now, and this is shaping up to be one of the craziest things I’ve heard of. It’s been reported that Han Ye-seul has now left Korea for the US, and that she’s going to be replaced on Spy Myung-wol. The production company in charge of Spy, Lee Kim Productions, is suing Han Ye-seul for breach of contract in addition to disrupting business, and it looks like Han’s own agency, Sidus HQ, will be joining the suit.

Things are looking awful. Lee Kim Productions is aware that there is a discord between Han and the PD of Spy, and acknowledge that most of the fault lies with the PD, but is pressing on with the suit ultimately because Han has left the country and looks like she will be dropping out of the drama to her own accord and without consulting with anybody from her management or anyone on the production team.

There are several things that are interesting to me regarding this conflict. Obviously Han has just thrown her career down the toilet, but it’s not impossible for her to make a comeback several years down the road when this is on the back of everyone’s minds. Most of the criticism against her at this point is that she’s being unprofessional and I have to agree, to a certain extent. Han is not a newbie in this industry by any standards, so I’m positive she knows what leaving the country and refusing to negotiate will do to her career in Korea, so I think the conflict that lies behind this drama’s debacle is not just a professional squabble. I think there is something more far-reaching than a discord or a case of lack of professional, but I hesitate to speculate because there is no point in doing so and it will just further create rumors. I just think that this incident is not as simple as it seems, because I am sure Han would not take a crap on her career and image if she were “just” a diva with an attitude.

Your thoughts?