[Mediment News Reporter Park Gyu-beom] Actor Jo Jin-woong (49, real name Jo Won-jun) has acknowledged a serious criminal record from his minor years and announced his retirement from the entertainment industry, causing unprecedented concern over the public release of tvN's highly anticipated project 'Second Signal', in which he stars.
On the 5th, following allegations of vehicle theft and sexual assault during his high school years, additional revelations of past incidents including assault on theater troupe members and drunk driving after becoming an adult have escalated the controversy. Jo Jin-woong's side admitted to some of his past criminal records but clarified, "I want to make it clear that it is unrelated to any acts of sexual assault." However, as past articles and online community posts were reexamined, public opinion worsened.
Ultimately, just a day after the revelations, on the 6th, Jo Jin-woong announced a halt to his activities and retirement, stating, "I humbly accept all this criticism and will cease all activities from today, putting an end to my acting career." He added, "I believe this is the rightful responsibility and duty I must bear for my past mistakes."
The biggest issue is that Jo Jin-woong's controversy has escalated into an unprecedented situation that shakes the entire project. 'Second Signal' is a large-scale project commemorating tvN's 20th anniversary, with writer Kim Eun-hee rewriting the script and original members Kim Hye-soo and Lee Je-hoon rejoining after 10 years, with massive production costs involved. All episodes have already been filmed 100% and post-production is underway.
In particular, Jo Jin-woong plays the key character 'Lee Jae-han', leading the narrative of Season 2 and is the main actor with the most screen time. A broadcasting official stated, "Jo Jin-woong is not a supporting role but the center. The amount of his screen time is so large that it cannot be resolved with some editing," and pointed out, "At this stage, it is physically impossible to remove the lead role entirely." Rescheduling the top actors like Kim Hye-soo and Lee Je-hoon for reshoots is nearly impossible, and the industry consensus is that it is not feasible to reinvest hundreds of billions of won in production costs.
Moreover, since Jo Jin-woong plays a righteous detective in a drama centered on crime, it is also difficult to proceed with the airing as planned.
Ultimately, options such as proceeding with the broadcast as scheduled, postponing the release, or exclusive release on OTT platforms are being discussed, but analyses suggest that whatever choice is made, the aftershocks are inevitable. Beyond simply returning appearance fees, various contracts involving OTT distribution, overseas sales, and product placement complicate the issue of penalties. Estimating losses from the already invested production costs and expected profits is considered a significant challenge in the industry.
Fans who have waited for a sequel for 10 years are also in shock. There are lamentations like, "It’s so unfair that something I waited 10 years for is falling apart due to this incident." tvN has cautiously stated, "We plan to discuss issues related to the airing of 'Second Signal', and we will inform you if there are any decisions made."
This incident, where the lead actor has effectively dropped out after all filming has been completed, is expected to be recorded as an unprecedented event in the history of Korean drama production, drawing the attention of the entire industry.
