No end in sight to Lee Byung-hun saga

SEOUL: A former Korean baseball pitcher has accused the president of the production company behind hit Korean drama serial "Iris" of hiring thugs to assault him.

According to The Korean Times, Kang Byung-kyu, who is now a television host, claimed that the attack was connected to the ongoing Lee Byung-hun scandal involving the Korean superstar and his alleged ex-girlfriend who is known only as Kwon.

Kang, 36, told reporters as he left a police station in Seoul that he will lodge a formal complaint against the president of the production company, a Mr Chung, later this week.

He had previously turned himself in after being summoned for questioning regarding allegations that he had hired gangsters to rough up staff members of the agency that worked on "Iris".

Kang also denied rumours that claim it was he who introduced Lee to his alleged ex-girlfriend and pressured her to file a lawsuit against the "Iris" and "GI Joe" star after they parted ways.

Kwon, a former Canadian national athlete, Kwon had brought a lawsuit against Lee on December 8, accusing him of luring her into a sexual relationship with false promises of marriage.

She also claimed that Lee had gambled illegally while he was filming in the United States and Canada. She is seeking 100 million won (S$119,000) in damages.

"I know Kwon following an introduction from one of my acquaintances. I am not directly connected with the scandal," Kang explained.

He claimed the whole affair started after he began to receive threatening calls from "people from Taewon Entertainment", the production firm behind "Iris", following rumours that he engineered Kwon's law suit against Lee.

He decided to visit the shooting location of "Iris" to clear the air but was instead accosted by Chung, his aides and thugs "with baseball bats and steel chairs" for "20-30 minutes", resulting in injuries which took three weeks to heal.

Kang also denied allegations that he hired gangsters to attack Chung's associates in a tit-for-tat act of revenge. The police have been investigating the matter since December 17.

Kang had just served his sentence of 160 hours of community service in April this year after he was convicted for illegal online gambling in February.

Amid the allegations and counter-allegations continued in Seoul, Lee's alleged ex-girlfriend, Kwon, has said in an interview with Fuji TV that she will escalate her conflict with Lee.

She said she will intensify her efforts as she was "angry that Lee portrayed himself as the victim" in the public letter he had put up on his blog earlier this month.

Lee had expressed in his letter that Kwon's allegations were "malicious" and that she was "distorting the facts".

Lee has counter-sued Kwon for libel.

Channel News Asia

More  Vanessa Hudgens