Power to HYS for standing up!
What I know about the Korean work culture, I have gleaned from the many korean dramas I have watched. May have been stereotyped but I do believe that there is an inkling of truth in fiction. Korean workers seemed to be expected to work so long hours, not supposed to complain and under the thumb of bullying superiors.
Don't they have unions to protect workers' rights in Korea? If I were to work late and socialise with coworkers after that, I will definitely migrate! I often thumb my nose at my boss who stays late every day while I leave on time cause I believe after eight hours (plenty much!!) at work, one needs to recharge at home- staying on would hardly be productive at all.

HYS may have underlying health concerns that led her to request a more reasonable, humane schedule--lots of health problems including MS, asthma, anxiety/depression, and immunodeficiency disorders are greatly exacerbated by stress and exhaustion. She really might not be able to handle the work load, and may told the production company at the very beginning before filming began.

I say Han Ye Seul should just get a damn twitter account. SAY SOMETHING WOMAN!

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed when I saw this post. How did things end up like this?

It's not justifiable on all accounts IF HYS has indeed left for USA. What happened to being accountable?
A true professional, always knows how to seperate work and personal feelings. If HYS was indeed dead tired, she should have found an alternative. This is not solving anything but running away from everything.

Disappointing, very disappointing.

I need to rant, so ignore my comment if you find a certain distaste for it.

All in all, I am not in a position to judge, aren't I?

someone needs to play "World Withins" for HYS to watch! :D anyone remember, one of the staff said "I had to wear pampers, and got bladder infection becos I didn't even have time to pee?" :D

jokes aside, this industry is known for extreme hard work. if you're in it, i guess you must weather it. If you want to fight it out, by all means, but do consider the audience and be professional about it rather than playing disappearing act. I have always liked HYS and loved this drama so I hope I'd be able to see the end of this drama - don't want it to get cancelled just because the issues can't be ironed out.

At this point, isn't it easier to just switch actresses? Continue with the filming but just a new actress playing her role. May cause some viewer confusion at first, but at least the production can continue.

if only if... the report is true that hys flew to LA at 3pm then her mgt co (sidus hq) who said that she is not quite well....
.... hmmm....

I think what is done is done. Now is the time for the producer to solve it so that the viewers wont get further dissapointed. As the true business people, they must find quick solutions to minimize their losses due to this. Well... any kind of business is always at risk...So now they need to manage this as the risk was not mitigated before....

omona what about us? after the tragic ending in ep 10!!! why must they filming on weekend, the script arent ready before that or what? I thought they have many writers. and I believe Han ye seul unni is not entirely wrong, I hope Korean fans will still have faith in her.

While she might had good reasons for doing what she did, she handled it poorly. And her silence is making things worst. As some comment stated above, she is familiar with the system and how it works, so she should had known the long hours she will had to put into. And if she wanted to "protest" the system, which I agree that's in fact very flawed, she should had done it differently. I'm not saying she is this diva and bla bla, but she should put on her big girl pants, do the work she was hired for, and fulfill her commitments and then take the necessary actions to complaint about the system/production. She needs to speak out because the only side of the story we are hearing is of the production company and the other actors.

Several Korean news sites are now reporting as though it's been confirmed that she left for LA, and also KBS and co apparently had a meeting and decided for now that they'll attempt to find a new lead actress and continue filming... dunno how much to trust these articles yet, but that's what they say. Regardless of who's to blame here, I really hope Han Ye Seul is okay mentally (as in not having a mental breakdown or major depression) :|

Got tired of reading the posts after the 10th. Anyway, I'm really a HYS fan and refuse to speculate about what really happened. I guess everyone has opinions about it, negative or not, but I don't have to read everything. Mostly I think everyone's overreacting (the netizens & some other sites that's making this issue worse) and I'm quite sorry for Eric too since I've become his fan because of this drama. I'm also doubtful about KBS' statements since the time they made some excuse about JYJ not being able to perform on one of their programs or something (not really a JYJ fan but I can tell KBS' statement was full of @#%^). But I hope HYS comes back so they can finish this really underrated drama.

I am not a new k drama fan, I am not new to HYS too.
I have been following this news for a few hours and I am totally heart broken.

I have watched quite a number of korean shows live altho I dun live in Korea but Myung wol will be the last time I watched any show live.

The next time I watched any show, I want to be sure it has a proper ending.

Yes, please change the live shooting system, it is just not going to work out in the long run!!

i just read Erics comments about this situation and I totally think he has a point..she is not the only one working on this project, every other actors schedule, including his, is just as packed but they endure because of the commitment they've made...Im trying not to say bad things about her but I'm sure she is not the only actor with a tight schedule, if this is the case than what does that make her..?

If the lead actress actually did a runner so be it.

The show must go on.

Come to think of it Eric is a much more busier actor but as a professional, he never backed out and faced the hectic shooting skeds. The same could be said with the other cast members & crew.

It's not as if the system is new. How many dramas have had such gruelling skeds. Even those who were involved in accidents made it a point to come back to resume as soon as they are able.

Park Shin Hye, youthful as she is, is a good example of having had an accident and yet resumed shooting as soon as she was able.

Goodluck on "Myungwol" but whatever her reasons are for absconding, I hope those people out there would be able to forgive & forget.

yoohoo, guys, (this is for people bashing hys)
do you guys work till 5am and then go to work at 7am?
all right, she's an actress, and they have busy schedules..but whether it's her health or her just being plain ole tired, why are you guys being immature in trying to bring her down?

she has acted before. she's NOT a rookie. so, she knows what she's doing..she may have been a bit unprofessional about it, but guess what? not everyone can be professional 100%, every single day.

to you "insiders", that's pretty cool. but honestly, how would i know for sure that you know him who knows her who knows her who knows han ye seul? so, i'm sorry if i'm not agreeing with your opinion, but maybe she is picky/rude. well, she got through the other dramas/movies without all this, so they must have solved problems somehow.

if she's being unreasonable, then there must be ANOTHER side who's being just as unreasonable.

personally, KBS aren't the most rational people around...in my opinion.

Personally I feel like if this had been Eric no one would be faulting him. Because of what she's done in the past apparently she's a diva. And now, for taking a stand in what she believes (wrong or right) she's not only considered a diva, she's also considered unprofessional. Does anyone realize that they have to memorize sixty pages in between their shooting scenes (for each minute of the episode is one page) and then do while shooting whatever changes the PD asks of them? They're also ACTING which is equally draining. When you watch SMW, the quality of their acting is amazing and I feel like despite the fact that Ye Seul may have argued with her PD, I have to say that she still went in there and did an extremely good job. Is that not professional? Look at episode 10 and that very last scene, it was very well done. Then there are all these rumors of her being unprofessional. But I look at that and all the previous episodes and the situation she must have been in, and something just doesn't add up.

I might not work fourteen hours a day but I do study and exam week at my university is a terrifying ordeal. Unlike most universities, we have a week and a half to study for five/four exams. I've had dormmates faint of exhaustion, get sick in the auditorium, be admitted into the hospital. I myself was admitted into the hospital because I had all of my exams in three days and I slept two hours and just studied the entire time. When I think about that and compare to Han Ye Seul's situation, it seems like hers is much worse.

Actually, it's the live shoot situation and the corporations that are much worse. Actors and crew members are expected to have little to no sleep and when they get home, if there are changes to the script, they're expected to drive all the way back, sleep or no sleep. They don't seem to be treated like they're human beings with rights and NEEDS. When you think about it, when you compare the highly scrutinized industry of Hollywood and South Korea, it seems like the Korean actors are the ones who need a union the most. Who else is going to speak up for the actors who sleep two hours a day?

In conclusion, I think Han Ye Seul is doing what's right for her. She probably experienced the same thing with her other dramas as well and has gotten fed up. Especially since she insisted on having certain hours on her contract. Everyone should be doing that, not just her. Why do all these big stars even sign these contracts/death wishes? They should be coming together and refusing to take any project that hasn't been already confirmed to shoot half the drama before airing. If this happened, wouldn't the corporations have no choice but to change the system?

PS This whole thing does seem really similar to the Megan Fox/Michael Bay thing. I applauded Megan Fox for getting out while she could and I'm doing the same for Han Ye Seul. Both of them have rights and sure, Ye Seul might not be considering other crew members but KBS can always get another actress. The drama might suffer, yes, but who knows? The ratings might increase with the amount of publicity this is all getting. My only regret is that Ye Seul is going to be black-listed from the industry for taking care of herself.

I do not think we should be encouraging actors and actresses to resume filming at the expense of their health if they still have not fully recovered. As some commenters mentioned, will they stop the inhumane live shoot system only when a life is lost? With the frequency of these accidents, it is really only a matter of time.

From the one-sided accounts so far, what HYS set out to do with her contract is commendable given the current absurd shooting conditions. Every actor should insist on such contracts, but of course, most of them can't coz live shoot is status-quo.

Anyway, it just struck me just how high the stakes were for HYS to do something like that. Remember how we cheered and applauded when Yeon Jae of SOAW quit her job and called her a-hole boss a jerk in his face. Something some of us stuck with horrible bosses dream of doing all the time. We can make it reality - we'll just end up losing our job. Period. but for HYS to do that - she knows she will be incurring the wrath of the whole nation, especially that of the most-feared blood-hungry netizens, and getting slapped with billion won lawsuits. So for her to have done something so shocking and incomprehensible - she must have been pushed way past her limits.

HYS is the lead actor for the show, but my question is why doesn't anyone see this as massive FAIL in leadership and production on the part of the PD (what is his name anyway) and ultimately KBS that is responsible for getting this drama properly filmed and completed on time? Sure HYS has her share of responsibility for going to work, but KBS should ensure they run a set properly. KBS is responsible for their employees. HYS may not be completely in the right, but she did not sign contracts with every person on the set of SMW.

I would not look at this situation and the other issues KBS has had recently and think, "wow, I want to work for them!"

This is just so sad. For the drama's sake, which is bound to have troubles with keeping to the story now (or even with just making sense); if it will turn into an unwatchable mess that will have even lower ratings, the staff and actors will suffer. Currently it seems that HYS won't be returning to the set at all so whatever route the drama will take now, we will not be having our OTP anymore.
And it's sad for HYS, too, because whether she was at fault or not, her career is bound to take a devastating blow. Who would want to hire an actress that appears to be irresponsible and has a bad image? Especially considering the harsh Korean entertainment industry (and easily condemning society, it seems to me), she'd be hard pressed to get a job now even if she turned out to be in the right. And honestly, I don't think these actions by her will serve as any blow against the live shooting system. She is likely going to be the object of hot criticism for a while, but everything else will simply resume as it is. Sad, sad, sad!

On a side note, although I get the feeling that there has been a lot going on to force HYS to go completely no-show like this, I do think she should have at least kept to the original hours in the contract and finished the drama before taking some sort of action -- this way all the other people working on the drama would not be significantly affected. It's a different story if her health really did get so bad that she felt she simply couldn't continue.

Well - exactly how great is she supposed to be with no sleep? That explains why she looks so tired in some scenes.

And, ones first duty is to one's health ! You know.. the flight attendent says .. get your own face mask on first... or something like that.

Ah, about Eric. this is his first thing in a couple years... he cannot afford to fall off the radar or alienate anyone.

ha, people were saying that it wasn't fair that she had to shoot through the night and morning and then have her return to the shoot just two hours after being released from the previous shoot...but it's not like she's the only one that is working alone, there's the pd, staffs and crew, and other actors too...if they are willing to put in the extra hours than why can't she...if her mental and physical health wasn't up to par, then why did she take up the role in the first place? and what is this about her asking to replace the pd? leave your personal issues at home, work is work...learn how to get along with people! i hate that she is putting everyone that's involved in with the drama in a really bad spot...take some responsibility and release an official statement! she at least owes that to the viewers and everyone involved in the Myung-wol the Spy.

if she really left for LA, this girl got guts and really don't care what others think of her. true swagger

Okay i just read they are suing her 10 billion won, what is that in U.S. dollars?

she doesn't care...why should she care about people that don't care about her health or requests? Just because others are willing to be taken advantage of, she should too?

well, it's confirmed that she flew to LA. wow. what a loser. running away is totally the best way to deal with the mess you've created.

I do not know exactly the facts about this mess, but it sure leave a bad taste. I can honestly say that I cannot continue watching the drama without thinking of the mess behind it. Now I just want to see the ending and move on to another drama. It is sad to see grown-ups not being able to settle differences in an amicable way.

I was really disappointed when i saw this episode.. entire week I watched episodes waiting for new episode and now.. :( damn!!!

On one hand I feel sorry for Han Ye-seul but on the other hand what can the crew for this, they waited for her to shopw up!

just plain annoyed :(

So apparently she ran off to LA to get hitched and escape all the drama. Lovely. lol

Can people really keep defending her after this?

Do people really honestly think she's "fighting the system"? That's laughable. Sounds like she just got tired of actually having to do something and decided to get married so she could retire and live at home. ha.

Sounds like a sick person to me.
Sounds like a responsible person to me.

I feel sorry for the cast and crew. I hope they are able to recover from this and move forward and not lose too much pay (the smaller staff, I mean, don't really care about the PDs, they are loaded anyway).

I hope this is resolved , I love HYS and have for a long time and begain to really care about the charcters in MYS.

One of my favorate actresses and characters what do we do??

awww no~~~ i've been waiting for the whole week, really anticipating today's episode and now nothing?! TT^TT

hope this conflict gets fix soon! FIGHTING everyone

I doubt she lost her marbles to cause this havoc to get married. I think it's just the media stirring things up and netizens unearthing anything Han Ye Seul related.

I feel like there's a big puzzle piece missing. Because really, she's an actress who's done many many dramas, CFs, and has an established career. She wouldn't just ride a plane just to eliminate her career like that. She's already used to late night filming. In addition, if she's "running away" from her problems, I don't think she's that dense to realize that she can come unscathed from this. She's getting sued not just from KBS, but her own agency for millions of dollars and she's going to face even more difficult emotional hardships.

UGH. And why is her agency not doing anything?! I'm guessing HYS and her agency also have rifts. God, I want to watch episode 11 tomorrow, but what the heck is going to happen afterwards? They're going to replace her character...but UGH

Selfishly, I'm totally bummed out that I may never see the end of SMW. :(

My spidey sense is telling me to support HYS. I realize that this isn't a situation where one party is guilty and the other is innocent but HYS's actions (until she fled the country. Oy!) do not read 100% "diva" to me. Please, folks (mostly talking to allkpop commenters), look up the definition of diva before you throw it around. Now I like HYS well enough, but a woman has to earn the title of diva and she ain't earned it.

Reading between the lines, I'm getting the impression that HYS dared to assert herself and advocate for her own well-being. Silly woman wanted a decent night's sleep! I don't know about you, but if I had a signed contract that stated I would only work M-F and no later than midnight, I'd be mighty piqued if I was expected to work weekends and early mornings, too. I can see "taking one for the team" and working a couple of extra hours once or twice but if working a couple extra hours turned into working five extra hours or working on my day-offs I'd feel taken advantage of, too. It all comes down to "If I give an inch, you'll take a mile."

Admittedly, a one-man strike can look downright petulant. I take it, South Korea does not have unions? It's sad that it seems HYS failed to find any support in Korea. I mean, did she have to fly to LA just to find a friendly shoulder to cry on? No one in the cast/crew had her back? Everyone else is totally fine with shitty working conditions? Listen, I get that the Eastern work ethic is different than the Western work ethic (and I'm not saying that the Western work ethic doesn't have its problems, too) but that doesn't mean that it's A-Ok to work someone to exhaustion.

All the speculation (including my own, of course) and rumors are totally getting out of hand. Just read that HYS flew to LA to marry her rich older boyfriend and that she is retiring. Gah, all this gossip is distracting me from more important things like, well, my own life.

GOOD GIRL, HYS!!!!! I hope she is single-handedly de-constructing k-drama production SOPs!!!

Alright, this is like a drama in itself. Now I'm hearing she left the country and is now planning to get married? Now everyones suing her and Eric's upset. When is this drama gonna be airing?

I don't know who to blame at this point because I definitely don't feel we're getting the full story. My gut is telling me to go with Han Ye Seul. There is no way a well established actress would mess up her career, ruin her reputation and flee the country if she was just unhappy with the PD. Something must be really wrong if she fled the country and made a mess like this. I also wish Eric hadn't commented like he had because it only made the deal a whole lot worse. And now her agency is going to join the production company to sue her? Wow they definitely had her back -____- I would understand if she didn't want to share everything with her agency because they don't seem very trust-worthy.

As for people complaining about her lack of professionalism, are you saying that she should take whatever treatment/abuse/etc she is subjected to without complaint, just for the sake of a drama airing? Does that even make sense? Its because opinions like this, that actors/actresses have deep depression and are on the brink of suicide, then the netizens come around with their sympathy. For the people saying she should just suck it up and report her problems to the police if they're that severe, you must understand it's not as easy as it appears. It can take years before a victim of abuse (if that's what happened to her) comes out with what they've experienced. But for now, I say good for her for getting out of the limelight and going back to her home. She needs a break.

Is that bad if I wish they will replace Park shi Yeon if she cant come back?

just wow...what are the writers going to do?
Like other have mentioned, last week's ending could be a perfect opportunity to write myung wol out of the story...but awkward considering she's the title character.
I'd hate to see han ye seul replaced--she is myung wol--and I can't think of a time that an actor has been replaced half way through a series/movie that has worked well.
If HYS needed a week off, I could imagine kang-woo/eric pacing and looking distraught in those fancy pajamas. It could see myung wol just going AWOL and kang-woo and spy parents all frantic...and ryu being broody.

When new first broke that she wasn't showing up to shoots, I was reserving judgement, but going to L.A.? I can't believe that an actor would do that in real life... I hope she is well and that everyone working on Spy Myung Wol can make the best of a terrible situation.

If everything that was said n those articles es TRUE, then I have to say that Han Ye Seul is behaving unprofessionally and selfish. I mean, demonstrating against the live-shoot-system, okay, but (possibly) leaving for a marriage, not okay.
And if she really left for a marriage and she really said she wanted to retire after Myung Wol anyway...well, then she doesn't have to worry about her image anymore.

IF she is only protesting against the live-shoot-system, then kudos for doing so, but PLEASE in another way dear LESLIE KIM. .__. Cause in the end, she'll have to return to filming and if not, someone else will replace her or something. And with the lost time, her (ex-)co-actors will have even tighter schedules than before.
Oh, not to mention thanks to her way of protesting a bunch of editors has to work overtime now. They're people, too, you know. They're waiting for her, all the time.

I personally, and judge me I dn't care, for ONCE at least believe this one thing: That she is doing this not out of the purpose to protest against live-shoots (or she would've said so already), but simply out of selfishness.
Cause she doesn't like the PD, she doesn't like the working conidtions.
Cause if she really cared about the fate of her co-actors, she wouldn't do it like this, cause this causes them even MORE stress.
I mean, of course live-shoot system is kind of inhuman, but just like Eric said, ALL the actors AND staff have to put up with it, not just her. Even the PD has to, since I don't think he works any less than the actors.
And not to forget, there are YOUNGER actresses *parkshinhyecough* who force themselves to return to filming one day after an accident (even though she had to leave afterwards again, but at least she tried), when clearly, in this situation, everyone would've understood if she wouldn't have.
And then Han Ye Seul comes along and just stays away from filming cause it pisses her off, causing trouble for the entire staff and cast. She's NOT doing any good here.

Yes, you can argue with me, but I'll stay with my opinion until Han Ye Seul gives us a PLAUSIBLE explanation for her behaviour. And she better does, soon.

I JUST WOKE UP to find out that she fled the country!!!!!!!!!!

I'm still on the fence, because we have yet to hear her side.

But seriously she needs to come out and say something, anything!

I really think that she just doesn't know what to do, and left the country, usually its the company (Sidus HQ) that should take care of these matter, and have a representative say something.

But it seems that she might be also having a hard time with her company. They don't seem to be backing her up at all. Or giving reasons for her leaving.

Apparently now they want to sue her too? I don't even know.

But it seems that they let her swim with the sharks.

This is the first that I heard anyone do this. And usually people have there company's/ representatives guiding them and backing them up.

She left the country to go to LA to see her family. When you leave the country to go and get comfort from peers and family memebers, you know that she must be very depressed.

I still think that she should say something, and maybe that's why she went to LA to get some backup?

All of this is just getting so out of hand.