[★K:OP-ED] Lee Byung Hun’s acting, will it save his reputation?

Recently, Lee Byung Hun was deep within the ‘”five million dollar controversy.” His reputation has since deteriorated since then, which ponders the question, will his acting save him?

Earlier on in January 15th, Lee Byung Hun’s “five million dollar controversy” came to an end with the two female defendants, Lee Ji Yeon and Dahee, being sentenced to prison time.

According to the results, the court had definitely raised Lee Byung Hun’s hands in victory. Lee Ji Yeon’s excuses were not accepted by the court. Instead, all of Lee Byung Hun’s opinions were accepted.

Despite the end of the case and Lee Byung Hun winning the case, the media is still busy talking about Lee Byung Hun. Near the end of case, the court mentions Lee Byung Hun’s fault in the case. They stated, “Although the victim, Lee Byung Hun, is to be recognized as victim of case, despite being a man with family he meddled with younger women; he provided the source of the controversy itself with his sexual jokes.” Through this statement, Lee Byung Hun’s loss of reputation is still in motion despite his win.

Some described Lee Byung Hun’s controversy to be his “worst crisis” since his debut in the industry. But, during his twenty four years of acting career, Lee Byung Hun had never disappointed the audience in terms of his acting. Three movies featuring Lee Byung Hun are in standby, and the reactions from the audience for the movies are a mystery at this point.

In addition to this, it is questionable whether or not if his reputation can be recovered through his upcoming movies. His movies all show different sides of him, and it may just be enough to turn the situation around.

The first movie that is in standby is Terminator Genesis, the fifth of the series. Lee Byun Hun is featured as an antagonist in the film fighting a war against humanity as Skynet in the year 2029. The movie is planned to be released on July 2015.

Due to this controversy, the movie, Swords Women,  delayed its release. In addition, The Insiders, also delayed its release, and both movies are still in discussion for their release dates. The staff is positive that the movie will be released in the year 2015.

The Insiders takes the controversy and corruption in the South Korean society due to its media, court, and gangsters. Lee Byung Hun takes the role of Ahn Sang Gu, a gangster heavily influencing the government.

Swords Women takes place in the lands of Koryo in the ends of its time. In this movie, Lee Byung Hun takes the role of an antagonist (Duck Gi) looking to take over the throne as a son of a concubine. The movie was more special at its announcement since it had been fourteen years since Lee Byung Hun had acted with Jeon Do Yeon.

The three movies all ended their filming already and finished preparations. According to staff, they can assure the public that Lee Byung Hun’s acting should be highly expected. Lee Byung Hun is expected to play three different characters with distinctive colors in different genres as well. It’s up to the public to decide whether or not Lee Byung Hun’s deteriorating reputation will take its turn through the release of these movies.

This article is directly translated by Koreaboo, originally written by Kim So Yeon of Star News.