Director confirms Yoo Ah-in will appear in 'The Match' despite drug scandal

Actor Lee Byung-hun poses during a press conference for the upcoming movie “The Match,” where he plays legendary go player Cho Hun-hyun, at a theater in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap

Kim Hyung-ju, director of the movie "The Match," based on the strategy board game go, said Friday that scenes featuring lead actor Yoo Ah-in — whose drug scandal delayed the film's release — will appear without editing out the actor.

“Regarding the trailers and promotional materials, we edited out Yoo,” the director told reporters during a press conference in Seoul on Friday. "However, editing out Yoo in the film would have made the story impossible. Since it's a story about two people, there were structural issues."

In September, Yoo was sentenced to one year in prison on charges of habitual drug use. The 38-year-old actor was released last month after receiving a suspended sentence from an appellate court.

Due to his drug use, the movie, which explores the mentor-disciple relationship and rivalry between two go legends — Cho Hun-hyun (Lee Byung-hun) and Lee Chang-ho (Yoo) — had its release postponed multiple times.

"I want to believe that the audience will fully understand once the movie is released," the director said. "From a director's perspective, the film was already wounded before it was released, and I didn't want to make additional wounds."

The movie was scheduled to be released on Netflix, but its distributor, BY4M Studio, ultimately decided to release it in theaters.

The director, known for his 2017 movie "The Sheriff in Town," said that the film was originally intended for theatrical release and he was happy to meet the audience in theaters.

Director Kim Hyung-ju attends the press conference for his movie “The Match” at a theater in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap

"We initially prepared for a theatrical release. I think theaters are what make a movie a movie, so I was happy to meet the audience in this space," Kim said.

In this movie, lead actor Lee Byung-hun plays Cho, the first Korean winner of the world's top go competition, the Ing Cup, in 1988.

Cho takes go prodigy Lee Chang-ho as his disciple in 1984, living and playing go together. However, as his disciple's skills improve, he repeatedly loses to him, and after much determination, he begins his challenge to regain the top spot.

Lee Byung-hun said he was confident that even those who don't know the game would be captivated by the appeal of this movie.

"Since it's based on real people and a true story, the story itself has dramatic power," Lee Byung-hun said. "Even though I didn't know about go, the power of the drama was so great that I wanted to participate."

The 54-year-old actor said he learned delicate actions such as how to place go stones and other hand gestures used in the game by taking lessons from a go player.

"I thought the hand gestures for playing go were nothing special, but it was very difficult to place one stone among the densely packed stones without hesitation," he said. "Of course, I had to pay attention to hand movements and techniques, but it was also difficult to express the psychology in the midst of the stillness while playing go."

“The Match” will hit theaters on March 26.