Han Ye-seul decides to return to "Spy Myung-Wol"

Official poster for KBS TV series "Spy Myung-Wol" [KBS]

The controversy surrounding actress Han Ye-seul's abrupt and unexcused departure from KBS TV series "Spy Myung-Wol" is expected to see a new turn with the actress having decided to return to the show.

An official with Han's agency sidusHQ told 10Asia over the phone late on Tuesday that they and her mother managed to convince the actress of resuming and completing filming of "Spy Myung-Wol" by returning to Korea at the nearest date possible.

Han, 29, had failed to turn up on the show's set since Sunday without prior notice nor an explanation, although it is said she was in conflict with the producer over her working conditions, and this led to yesterday's episode of the Monday and Tuesday primetime drama to be replaced with a special.

A report by a local media outlet had then confirmed through photographs that the actress had left for the U.S., showing up at the airport of her hometown in Los Angeles at 3 a.m. today (Korea time).

The official at sidusHQ added, "Her mother will decide on exactly when Han will return to Korea and when she does, she will do her best to shoot the show till the very end after making an official apology to producers and viewers."

A statement by the agency a few hours earlier had explained, “Han was very exhausted, both physically and mentally, due to her busy filming schedule so she wasn't able to make a proper judgement which led to her causing trouble for many people. We are very sorry about this."

The agency is now looking at ways to see the actress return to Korea by Thursday -- through a press conference today, KBS said they intend on discussing Han's return to the show if she makes it back to set in time for them to air a regular episode of the show next week, the deadline internally set for Thursday morning.

They also did not rule out the possibility of them having to change the actress playing the female lead role in order to continue showing regular episodes of the drama at its set times, which it resumed starting with today's episode after continuing filming with the rest of its cast.

However, it is uncertain whether Han will be able to rejoin the show even if she returns to Korea in time -- KBS and the drama's production company Lee Kim Productions held emergency meetings as soon as they were notified of Han's intentions to return to the show and early in the day, Lee Kim said it will take legal action against Han "for the tangible and intangible damage she caused."

Both Lee Kim and KBS have claimed they had tried their best to accomodate Han's requests regarding the filming schedule and her scenes despite her frequent late arrivals to set.

Hence, if Han does not return to "Spy Myung-Wol" and has left for the U.S., it is expected to affect the rest of her full-fledged career -- she is endorsing several products, has a movie set for release in the latter half of this year and is on contract with sidusHQ till January of next year.

While some fans are sympathizing the actress, others are disappointed since she had been one of Korea's most sought out and loved actresses which she gained after starring in MBC's popular sitcom "Nonstop 4” in 2003.

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