Song Hye Gyo, Hyun Bin, and Others Give Up Receiving Outstanding Pay to Help Production Company

Song Hye Gyo and Hyun Bin have given up their outstanding pay from the 2008 KBS drama “The World That They Live In” in order to help out the production company in their financial troubles.

On February 14, several broadcast officials revealed that Song Hye Gyo, Hyun Bin, Yoon Yeo Jung, Bae Jong Ok, Um Ki Joon, and others have given up receiving outstanding pay from YEG and agreed to the company’s recovery process. Thanks to this, the Seoul Central District Court has approved YEG’s recovery plan.

One official said, “At the time that ‘The World That They Live In’ was airing, the production company had taken a hit in revenue due to a slump in viewer ratings. Because of that, the cast and crew were unable to receive all of their allotted pay. While the company tried to resolve almost 700,000,000 won ($660,000) of their outstanding balance owed to the drama’s cast and crew up until last year, they had difficulties coming up with the money, and ended up focusing on the recovery process. 

In the midst of all this, it was revealed that Song Hye Gyo is particularly close with the YEG president Ahn Jae Hyung, who had been the president of the actress’s previous agency Yeonyoung Entertainment. Ahn Jae Hyung was at the head of the old agency from 1990 to 2007, and helped bring up the best-of-the-best such as Bae Yong Joon, Song Seung Hun, Choi Ji Woo, and Song Hye Gyo. 

An official stated, “That Song Hye Gyo and Hyun Bin really helped with the recovery was in a large part due to her thankfulness for and trust in president Ahn Jae Hyung. Song Hye Gyo is also hoping for Ahn Jae Hyung to put everything behind him soon and start making great dramas once again.”

“The World That They Live In” was highly praised for its realistic portrayal of the love between the two main characters (Song Hye Gyo and Hyun Bin) and the background of the broadcasting company. However, because of low viewer ratings, the drama fell into trouble financially. On February 13, the Korean Entertainment Management Association revealed that YEG had not paid a total of 679,270,000 won ($639,000) to the drama cast and crew, causing a stir.

Source