Korean Actress Returns To The Big Screen For The First Time Since 2020: Here’s Why Her “Taxi Driver” Role Isn’t Sitting Right With K-Movie Fans

Korean actress Park Si Yeon is set to appear in an upcoming movie called Abyss as a taxi driver.

The last time Park Si Yeon was on screen was in 2020, when she acted in the drama When My Love Blooms and made a special appearance in Postpartum Care Center. When the news announced that she would finally return to the big screen after three years, the casting choice disturbed the public.

Two years ago, Park Si Yeon crashed into a car that was stopped at a traffic light in the middle of the day. It was then discovered that her blood alcohol concentration was measured to be 0.097%, which is enough to confiscate her driving license and be fined ₩12 million KRW (about $10,696.19 USD).

Park Si Yeon’s agency released a statement that she didn’t drink on the day of the car crash but drank the night before and assumed she was sober by morning when she decided to drive.

Despite her defense and two years of self-reflection, her new role in Abyss didn’t sit right with the public. They didn’t understand why out of all the actors in Korea, someone with a history of drunk driving is playing the role of a taxi driver.

It didn’t help that Park Si Yeon’s reputation was already tainted in 2013 when she was found guilty of propofol use.

Netizens responded to her new role in the film with comments saying things like, “A taxi driver role when she drove under the influence?” and “Are there really no other actresses in Korea?”

• “Is she a phoenix or what?”
• “Why is she coming out? She has so many controversies — who is using her?”
• “From drunk driving to drugs — why is it so easy for her to return from her time of self-reflection? It’s so easy when she’s an ex-con”
• “The entertainment industry, especially the film industry, is so f*cking dangerous. How can they keep casting someone like this? I don’t understand…”
• “There are so many talented and undiscovered actors; should’ve given them a chance”
• “She didn’t even rest that much…?”
• “From propofol to drunk driving…”
• “She needed self-reflection for drunk driving but she HAD to play the role of a driver… I’ve seen cases where actors with controversy for having affairs act in dramas about affairs — is this on purpose?”
• “I guess you can still act when you’ve done propofol and drove under the influence.”

The criticisms continued as her drunk driving incident in 2021 was not the first time Park Si Yeon was controversial—she had a prior drunk driving accident in 2006.

Abyss is a film that depicts the desperate struggle for survival when one has fallen into an “abyss.” The story is about Lee Tae Sik, a former member of the counterterrorism unit who worked as a secret agent, on a desperate search to find his wife, who went missing on their first wedding anniversary. Park Si Yeon will play the role of Han In Sook, a mysterious Korean-Chinese taxi driver who crosses paths with Lee Tae Sik when he rides her cab while on the search for his wife in China.