Actor Lee Hoon returns to big screen after 17 years in film about Dec. 3 emergency martial law

Actor Lee Hoon, who publicly disclosed billions of won in debt following a failed business venture and a long career hiatus, is returning to the big screen for the first time in 17 years.

Lee has been cast in "Emergency Martial Law 12.3," a film set to begin shooting in September. Director Park Gyeong-su wrote the screenplay and will helm the production.

The film draws on the emergency martial law crisis of Dec. 3, 2024, exploring the background and sequence of events behind an unprecedented incident in 21st-century South Korea. It is billed as a political drama thriller.

Actor Gong Hyung-jin will play President Gye-yeong, a former prosecutor general who enters politics, develops deep distrust of the established political order and ultimately declares emergency martial law.

Lee will portray the presidential chief of staff, a character who tries to stop the president's decision until the very last moment. The head-on confrontation between the two figures is expected to drive the film's tension.

Lee had previously spoken about his financial hardships on a television program.

After a sports center venture collapsed in 2006, he was left with roughly 3 billion won (about $1.95 million) in debt. He went on to endure years of hardship, living in a semi-basement apartment and filing for personal bankruptcy rehabilitation.

Appearing on a variety show in April, Lee said projects he had been preparing over the past three years had fallen through one after another, leaving him "completely blocked financially" and in "a truly desperate situation."

Lee made his debut in 1994 through the SBS drama series "Youth Cabinet" and "Moon of Seoul," going on to win a wide following as one of Korea's original fitness-idol stars.

“김승규때문에 졌다” 출산 영상에도 ‘악플’…아내 김진경, 결국

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