Kim Young Dae has responded through his agency OUTERKOREA to the allegations mounted by KBS blaming him for walking out of School 2021 without consulting the channel, thereby putting the drama in trouble. In a statement, the actor has explained in detail why he opted out of the show.
What's In The Statement?
According to the statement, he had signed the contract with King's Media and School 2020 Special Purpose Company for the project in March 2020. The shooting was supposed to begin two months later, the internal issues in the company delayed the filming due to which co-production company SR Pictures opted out of the drama.
The delay forced KBS to cancel the premiere and King's Media released media statements claiming that it will be premiered in August 2021 despite the actor's agency informing the production house that his contract is terminated, OUTERKOREA claims.
King's Media then assured that the shooting would commence by March and will be ready for airing by September 2021, but there were no signs of progress, forcing a lot of cast members, the scriptwriters, and the director to quit the show, the agency claims. The drama changed hands with a new company Kingsland taking over the project.
Kim Young Dae through the agency claims that by then, the actor had lost trust in the company and was not interested to work with the project funded by a new company even as there were press statements being released by the production house without his consent.
However, the new company persuaded him to sign a new contract at the cost of missing out new shows which are scheduled to be aired in 2022
The statement added, "We would like to point out that, despite all the difficulties that he faced, Kim Young Dae showed enthusiasm for the show and wanted to give it his best shot. Unfortunately, against the claim that the production will progress without problems, KINGSLAND turned out to be in huge debt and unable to pay salaries to its production staff. Kim Young Dae continued to attend all meetings, show up at every script reading practice, and maintained a positive outlook for the show.
Eventually though, KINGSLAND began to fail paying their actors (signed to management). When we became aware of the problem, we stayed in touch with KINGSLAND to make sure Kim Young Dae will get paid. On June 18, we attempted to contact KINGSLAND about his payment. We have not received any payment since. We immediately filed complaints against the production company, to which KINGSLAND admitted that the company is currently unable to operate because it is financially struggling. The company also admitted that it is unable to secure any investments either. Yet KINGSLAND asked us to renew Kim Young Dae's lead role contract with a different production company that they introduce to the show."
