Actor Lee Dong Gun explained why it took him so long to return to the screen.
On June 20, Netflix's series, 'Celebrity' held its production presentation, which was attended by the director and cast members.
One of them was Lee Dong Gun, the actor who has been silent ever since starring in a drama in 2019.
It was a mystery to some; since the actor has worked nonstop since his debut in 1998 till 2019.
In 2017, Lee Dong Gun married actress Cho Yoonhee, who co-starred with him in KBS' drama, 'The Gentlemen of Wolgyesu Tailor Shop'.
The couple was at the center of attention that year due to their marriage and Cho Yoonhee's pregnancy announcement that came shortly after their dating announcement.
However, the marriage ended up in divorce three years later, in May 2020.
Cho Yoonhee received custody of their only child, Ro-ah.
The actress once appeared on a television show with Ro-ah and talked about her life as a single mom.
▶ [SBS Star] Cho Yoonhee Reveals Her Lookalike Daughter & Struggles of Raising Her by Herself
Cho Yoonhee stated in the show that she openly discusses Lee Dong Gun with her daughter because she does not want Ro-ah's affection for his father to be impacted by her feelings towards her ex-husband.
"Her father adores her.", Cho Yoonhee added.
Now, Lee Dong Gun finally addressed the situation by clarifying why he has been silent for the last three years.
"People may have wondered what happened to me since I haven't been working for a while. I've been spending a lot of time with my daughter.", he said.
The actor said that he put his career aside for a while to be present for Ro-ah from the age of five to seven.
"I realized how important it is for a child to spend time with their father, especially at my daughter's age. So I tried to give her that."
Divorced with no custody of the child, the father says he has committed to spending as much time as he can with his daughter.
"Since I can't be with her every day, I focused on our time together to make sure that she doesn't feel my absence so much."
Then he added how glad he is to be back working, "I am happy to be starred in 'Celebrity'. It is such a fancy series."
'Celebrity' is a series about the ferociously competitive world of social media influencers, and is set to premiere on June 30.
(Credit= 'JTBC Entertainment' 'KBS Drama' YouTube, SBS Entertainment News/Baik Seung-chul)