Veteran actor Lee Soon Jae was recently caught up in a scandal after his ex-manager claimed to the press that he was treated more as a servant than a manager. The ex-manager, Mr. Kim, revealed recorded conversations that he had with Lee Soon Jae and others with his wife.
It’s now revealed that Lee Soon Jae had no idea that he was being recorded. He explained in an interview, “I was shocked after I found out that Mr. Kim secretly recorded conversations while talking with me and my wife.”
After the news broke, Lee Soon Jae revealed that he had apologized to Mr. Kim and acknowledged his wife’s wrongdoings from the beginning.
I plan on apologizing to Mr. Kim. My wife probably asked him to do some errands because she’s old. She may have said some things that weren’t pleasant in the process.
Other past managers helped us well as if we were family, and no one ever complained about it. I keep in touch with them even now and we get along. I wonder if Mr. Kim felt uncomfortable by the requests because he was older.
I told my wife that what she did was wrong and to never do it again. I told her to apologize. I told her that times have changed.
— Lee Soon Jae
But little did he know, Mr. Kim was recording the whole conversation which he later released to the SBS News. Lee Soon Jae is taken aback by the fact that he was unknowingly recorded.
Although it wasn’t released in the reports, Lee Soon Jae claims that he apologized on behalf of his wife and himself.
When I met with him at the time, I told him, ‘I’m sorry this happened,’ ‘I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again,’ and apologized. I guess he didn’t feel it was enough.
I never imagined that he would record our conversations and didn’t realize it at the time either. He didn’t tell me in advance at all. I realized from the news that he recorded conversations with my wife as well. I wonder if he recorded us with motive from the beginning. Who knew that someone would record a day-to-day conversation with someone?
— Lee Soon Jae
He had originally planned to hold a press conference to explain his side of the story and to further apologize to Mr. Kim since he has been unreachable since the scandal broke.
Lee Soon Jae ultimately felt it was not the right time to hold a press conference due to his ill health and the current pandemic. Although he’s cancelled the conference, he’s been reaching out through various news portal interviews relaying his apologies to Mr. Kim over and over again.
This is the first time I’m experiencing something like this so I wanted to hold a press conference out of shock. But my health isn’t well and I don’t think it’s proper to bring in all the reporters during the coronavirus pandemic, so I decided not to do it.
I wasn’t planning on making excuses for myself if we held a press conference. I was going to apologize for causing an issue to the public, and I wanted to make sure Mr. Kim knew that I am sorry.
If he wants something that we can do for him to leave this in peace, I wish he’d tell me. I want to compensate him if I can.
— Lee Soon Jae
Mr. Kim’s case against Lee Soon Jae’s agency is currently being investigated by the Ministry of Labor. Lee Soon Jae announced that he hopes to resolve the issue with Mr. Kim in peace but if it continues to become an issue, he will step down from his upcoming drama.
At the root of it, I made a mistake and it’s only right that I leave the drama if the legality of it overshadows the drama. I hope that Mr. Kim and I will be able to resolve it well but if he has other motives than it’ll be regretful.
Mr. Kim once told my wife that if this got out to the news I wouldn’t be able to act anymore. When I heard that at the time, I thought he was worrying for me but now I wonder if he had other intensions.
If he had other intensions, I will have no choice but to rely on the law as well. But my ultimate hope is that we can resolve this issue well long before it gets to that stage.
— Lee Soon Jae
Lee Soon Jae has been in the acting business for over 60 years as he’s become a legend and icon to many of the top actors today. As his scandal continued to spread, another ex-manager came forth and defended the actor’s character.
He claimed that although Lee Soon Jae’s family did ask him for household favors here and there, the family never had ill intensions.
