Controversial Korean actress Seo Ye-ji’s film “Recalled” was released in South Korea on April 21 and took first place at the box office.
According to the Korean Film Council (KOFIC), “Recalled,” which also stars actor Kim Kang-woo, sold 18,187 tickets on opening day to take the No. 1 post. It earned $121,331, which is 28 percent of the revenues of all films screened on that day.
Including the pre-opening screening, “Recalled” has sold 19,281 tickets and earned $128,048 in South Korea. Seo Ye-ji and Kim Kang-woo filmed “Recalled from May to July 2019.
In the movie, Seo Ye-ji plays the role of Soo-jin, who gets into an accident and suffers from memory loss. She then sees the future of people and faces the shocking reality of her husband Ji-hoon (played by Kim Kang-woo).
Its opening numbers are smaller than “Seobok,” starring Gong Yoo and Park Bogum, which sold 45,153 tickets on April 15 and earned $362,189, or 59.87 percent of the total revenues for that day.
“Seobok” placed first at the Korean box office from April 15 to 20 and has sold 258,481 tickets and earned $2.19 million as of April 21.
Seo Ye-ji decided not to attend the movie’s press conference last April 13 after she became embroiled in the manipulation controversy involving her former boyfriend, actor Kim Jung-hyun, star of the dramas “Crash Landing on You” and “Mr. Queen.”
As a result, Kim Kang-woo and director Seo Yoo-min were the only ones who attended the event to promote the film.
On April 12, or a day before the “Recalled” press conference, Korean media outlet Dispatch published a news story that accused Seo Ye-ji of manipulating and controlling Kim Jung-hyun when he was filming the drama “Time” with actress and Girls’ Generation member Seohyun in 2018.
Dispatch reported that Seo Ye-ji ordered Kim Jung-hyun not to film any “skinship” or physical contact, and romantic scenes with Seohyun despite that these were in the “Time” script. She also asked him to change the script so that there would be no romantic scenes or physical contact with Seohyun.
It added that Seo Ye-ji ordered Kim Jung-hyun to take videos and audio recordings during filming and send them to her. It stated that when he received a script, he would ask for revisions and send it to Seo Ye-ji.
In one of their exchanges on the mobile messaging app KakaoTalk, Kim Jung-hyun told Seo Ye-ji, “I keep reading the script. I’m not doing anything else.”
“Correct it well so there is no romance. You are happy because of me. So make me happier,” Seo Ye-ji told the actor.
From episodes 5 to 12 of “Time,” the script included 13 skinship scenes but none of them made it to the airing.
In her statement released through her agency Goldmedalist, Seo Ye-ji admitted that she and Kim Jung-hyun were lovers during the time he was filming “Time.” She also did not deny the authenticity of the KakaoTalk messages published by Dispatch.
However, Seo Ye-ji denied manipulating Kim Jung-hyun and put the blame on him, saying what happened during the filming of “Time” was his decision.
“As a result of checking with Kim Jung-hyun, it was clearly confirmed that the drama-related controversy was not caused by Seo Ye-ji, and he expressed his intention to issue his position about it,” said Goldmedalist.
Regarding the issue of manipulation, the agency said, “It is hard to understand through common sense the controversial report that the main actor of the drama would act as he is told by someone without his own free will. It is practically impossible for an actor to act and film without any will.”
On the published KakaoTalk messages between Seo Ye-ji and Kim Jung-hyun, Goldmedalist said, “It was not shown in the released conversation but there was a conversation that Kim Jung-hyun also asked Seo Ye-ji, who was filming another drama, not to film kiss scenes etc. In response, Seo Ye-ji told him, 'Then you don't either' as part of conversations between lovers showing jealousy about skinship with others.”
Goldmedalist branded the KakaoTalk messages as mere “lovers’ quarrel.”
“This can be seen as a common lovers’ quarrel between actors who are lovers in the industry. However, all actors film normally, setting aside their lovers’ quarrel. We think Kim Jung-hyun must have had other inevitable personal circumstances too,” it said.
In addition to the Kim Jung-hyun controversy, Seo Ye-ji is also facing accusations of lying about her academic background, mistreatment of staff and school violence.
Companies which hired her as endorsers of their products have decided to delete her ad photos or hide YouTube videos due to the controversies.