Police start grilling Kang Ji-hwan and former agency

Police have started cross-examination of actor Kang Ji-hwan and the head of his former agency Jambo Entertainment regarding a legal spat over the actor's working contract.

The two parties on Tuesday convened at the Gangnam Police Station for a questioning session held in response to a civil suit filed by Kang's current management firm S Plus Entertainment against Jambo on charges of embezzlement and document forgery.

S Plus had pressed the charges following Jambo's claim that Kang had breached his exclusive contract with them, valid until August this year, to sign with S Plus whom Kang joined in early January.

S Plus admitted Kang had several months left on his previous contract but declared that legitimate measures were taken to terminate the actor's affiliation to Jambo and legalize his move.

"Investigation hasn't ended yet so I can't tell you what we talked about in detail. But it seems it won't be easy to come to an agreement," Jambo's head identified only by his last name Kim told Asia Economic Daily over the phone.

Kang, 32, debuted in 2001 in the Korean version of the musical "The Rocky Horror Show". He later gained fame after appearing in notable television dramas, such as "Be Strong, Geum-soon!"(2005), "Scandal in Old Seoul"(2007) and "Hong Gil-dong, The Hero"(2008).

He has also starred in several movies including "Movie is a Movie", "Speedy Scandal" and "My Girlfriend Is An Agent", a comedy action film co-starring Hallyu star Kim Ha-neul.

Reporter : Ko Kyoung-seok kave@asiae.co.kr
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@asiae.co.kr