Actor Lee Byung-hun, illegal gambling, and gangsters … Oh my!

The story revolving around actor Lee Byung-hun (of the Korean movie The Good, the Bad, and the Weird, and the Hollywood movie G.I. Joe ) keeps becoming an ever-deeper rabbit hole. How far does it go?

It began with Kwon Mi-yeon, a 22-year-old Korean-Canadian rhythmic gymnast* whom Lee met in Canada. She came over to Korea to live with Lee, believing that he was serious about her, and would marry her. He later dumped her, providing her with a humble apartment (so humble that she moved out and is now living with a friend). Due to the mental and emotional distress that she claims he inflicted upon her, she is now trying to sue him. Kwon released pictures of herself and Lee to prove that they really were a couple, and appeared on a Japanese TV program (which, to me, looks very tabloid).

But most damaging to him were allegations by Kwon that he participated in illegal gambling. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office have questioned Kwon over this, and plans to summon Lee in the near future.

But it gets even better. Lee stars in a popular TV spy drama called Iris. On December 14, gang members came to the set and became physically belligerent towards staff members. Initially, the blame was cast towards Kang Byung-kyu, a baseball pitcher-turned TV entertainer, because of his history of gambling problems and allegations that he is related to Kwon. Kang denies all charges, and says that he will file a lawsuit against TaeWon Entertainment.

“The story about me calling in those gangs is not true at all. I have actually been beaten directly by Jung Tae Won, the president of the company [TaeWon Entertainment]. The rumor that claims that I am related to Lee Byung Hun’s ex-girlfriend, Kwon Mi Yeon is also not true, and I have been receiving many death threats through phone calls with Jung.”

Kang Byung Kyu had also revealed that he had attempted to compromise with Jung on the 14th, but received violent beatings for 20 minutes, resulting in 3 weeks of hospitalization. He persuaded the reporters that he was helplessly being framed for false accusations.

A representative of the police department stated, “No evidence has been found proving his relation to the gang riot yet. Since both sides are claiming to be the victim of this case, we will carefully investigate this much deeper.”

* Do you know how flexible they are? (Flexibility starts around 1:30.)