Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.
Lee Byung-hun talks about new film after blackmail scandal
/Courtesy of ShowBox
By Bahk Eun-ji
Top hallyu actor Lee Byung-hun, 45, said he hopes to be remembered as a good actor.
Lee made the comment at a press interview Tuesday before the release of his new film, “Inside Men.” The movie’s release comes about a year after he was embroiled in a blackmail scandal with two women.
He said the incident happened while he was working on the film, so he tried to focus on it so other staffers and actors were not affected.
Lee filed a lawsuit against a fashion model and a female singer for blackmailing him with a video clip showing the three exchanging lewd jokes in September 2014. Lee denied he had any sexual relations with the women.
Lee won the lawsuit as the court gave the two blackmailers suspended jail terms. Lee was criticized for being involved in such a scandal while his actress wife Lee Min-jung was pregnant. But there now is less criticism of the top-rated actor who has starred in Hollywood films “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” (2009), “Red 2” (2013) and “Terminator Genisys” (2015).
“Inside Men” is about a gangster who is dumped after being exploited by politicians and presidents of conglomerates. It is based on Yoon Tae-ho’s web comic “The Insiders.”
Lee plays gangster Ahn Sang-goo.
The film will be released on Nov. 19.