The veteran actress who allegedly had a forbidden affair, involved in a junior’s suicide case, and more
10 years after becoming the center of controversies, this beauty is still doing well, even accepting new offers regularly.
To young viewers, Lee Mi Sook is a not so familiar name, but she actually used to be one of the most outstanding actresses of the 80s. Together with Won Mi Kyung, Lee Bo Hee, they were called “Korea’s beauty trio of the 80s“. Starting acting in 1980, Lee Mi Sook is loved for her mature, attractive aura and alluring body. In the early years of her career, she mainly took on leading roles and was the one who contributed majorly to the success of legendary films of the time such as Whale Hunting, The Winter That Year Was Warm,… Her name is also associated with the iconic drama East of Eden.
Besides her acting career, her marriage was also noticed by the public because only 7 years after entering the entertainment industry, she suddenly halted her activities to get married. Back then, many people thought that she would give up the spotlight because of marriage. However, she had an impressive comeback a few years later. She won many great awards with the film An Affair. With a happy marriage and admirable career, Lee Mi Sook‘s life seemed to be perfect, but in 2007, she and her husband, plastic surgeon Hong Sung Ho, suddenly announced their divorce after 20 years of living together. The reason for the divorce was not disclosed until 2012.
Specifically, in 2012, when she was in her 50s, Lee Mi Sook made headlines, but not for something positive. This was when she and her former management agency The Contents Entertainment were entering an intense dispute as the agency revealed that Lee Mi Sook was having an inappropriate relationship with a man 17 years younger than her. This forbidden affair was the major cause for Lee Mi Sook’s divorce from her longtime husband despite the fact that they have two children together. The most shocking part is that she was even accused of having an evil scheme: for fear of having her adultery scandal exposed by the former agency, she secretly hired a man to kill her former manager.
According to text messages sent in January 2009, Lee Mi Sook‘s son sent a message to Yoo Jang Ho (33 years old), late actress Jang Ja Yeon‘s former manager, saying: “Be strong. My mother is sick, so she told Jo Yang Eun (the person who was hired) not to kill Kim (ex-manager).” Moreover, a phone call between Yoo Jang Ho and another artist also alluded to the murder plot: “Lee Mi Sook contacted all the reporters and others involved and claimed that she would cut off Kim’s toes and fingers”.
In addition to this scandal, Lee Mi Sook was also named as the mastermind in fabricating “Jang Ja Yeon’s profile“. Jang Ja Yeon, who is a Boys Over Flower actress, once committed suicide because she was forced to become a sex slave for officials inside and outside the film industry.
Dispatch revealed that Lee Mi Sook convinced Jang Ja Yeon to write a letter detailing how she was pushed into prostitution and raped. The wills were a method for Jang Ja Yeon to get out of her old company, but Lee Mi Sook only wants to use them to threaten the company. After that, Jang Ja Yeon discovered that she was being used by Lee Mi Sook while also being threatened by the management company. It was for this reason that she chose to commit suicide to free herself. Of course, Mi Sook insisted that it was all “doubt” and “misunderstanding.”
10 years after being involved in a series of scandals, Lee Mi Sook, although losing her position in the entertainment industry, still persisted in acting, and her career was almost unaffected. From 2012 to the present, she has received 13 film projects, both movies, and TV series, in which she has played the lead character five times. She seemed to have just gradually withdrawn from the entertainment world due to her age, but the incident didn’t disturb her. In the future, the audience may also see Mi Sook again as the main role in The Empire of Law.
