Why is 'River Where the Moon Rises' on a break? KBS apologizes, promises to edit Ji Soo out of shot episodes
'River Where the Moon Rises', the recent period drama starring Kim Soo-hyun, Lee Ji-hoon and Choi Yu-hwa in lead roles, also stars Ji Soo in the role of On Dal, the son of one of the generals in the show. There was expected to be romance between Kim Soo-hyun's character Ga-jin and On Dal from what we have seen of the show so far.
However, after Ji Soo was accused of bullying his middle school classmates and even sexual harassment, things have changed. Many Kpop idols and drama actors have been called out for bullying their classmates or schoolmates when they were young and which has led to the end of their careers. Ji Soo, wrote a handwritten apology note addressed to the victims and accepted the allegations against him. This resulted in him being removed from the show.
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Why will 'River Where the Moon Rises' go on break?
Currently, 'River Where the Moon Rises' will go on a break to edit Ji Soo out as much as possible before they return on air. The announcement came from KBS Network which airs the drama through an official statement on March 5. KBS announced, "We apologize for causing concern to viewers due to the controversy over the school violence involving actor Ji Soo. We also offer sincere condolences to the victims."
Who will replace Ji Soo in 'River Where the Moon Rises'?
They further stated, "We will cancel this weekend's rerun. We will also edit out Ji Soo from episodes 7 and 8 as much as possible and will begin re-filming episode 9 with the new actor." The new actor to replace Ji Soo might be Na In-woo, who played an important role in tvN show 'Mr Queen', which received great ratings while on air. There has been no official confirmation as of now. In-woo in the meantime is working on the romance drama 'Her Bucket List' along with Kim So-hye.
The network further added, "We recognize the seriousness of the incident and considered all measures, including the cancellation of the drama, but we had to consider the viewers who showed love and support for the drama would be left with an incomplete drama despite the numerous staff, actors, and production companies who will be affected."
In his sorry note, Ji Soo also apologized to the crew and cast of the show and said, "I feel miserable and guilty for inflicting so much damage on all of my fellow drama cast and crew members, the broadcasting station, and all those affiliated with the production, solely due to my own personal mistakes. I sincerely pray that the drama will not suffer any more damages."
As of now, shooting for upcoming episodes have been halted, and the new character is expected to appear in the show from episode 9 onwards. Amid all of this, there are reports of Ji Soo signing up to serve his compulsory military time.
'River Where the Moon Rises' usually airs every Monday and Tuesday on KBS and can be streamed on Viki in the US.
