Kang Ji Hwan Faces Plagiarism Charges

Kang Ji Hwan, who played the wealthy hotel heir and Yoon Eun Hye's unwilling love interest in "Lie To Me," has been accused of plagiarism.

The actor's play, "Thank You Honey," concerns a couple who must face a terminal illness and who care for and protect each other. He has been rehearsing the play for a few months and recently performed it in Japan at a fan meeting.

However, director Jung Se Hyuk claims that Kang stole the idea from his own play "Happiness" and he says he will take legal actions.

Kang Ji Hwan heard about Jung's comments while he was at the Japanese fan meeting to promote the new play. He was both shocked and embarrassed that the director made a public statement after they had discussed his concerns.

According to Kang Ji Hwan's representatives, "Director Jung Se Hyuk believes we plagiarized his work and we have discussed the issue with him over the phone. We planned to meet in person and are embarrassed over the investigation. Naturally, we will investigate this matter thoroughly."

Kang performed the play in Korean but distributed a summary of the play and a translation in Japanese before the show started.

In order to prove plagiarism, both works must be compared for similar plotlines, characters and dialogue. There is a fine line between being inspired by someone else's work and copying it. If legal charges are made, the court will enlist the help of experts to determine whether it is plagiarism.

It's not the first scandal that Kang faced this year. Early this year reports claimed that Kang physically assaulted his manager at his former agency S. Plus Entertainment and behaved badly toward members of the staff. He denied having any problems with his managers but said that he would found his own agency.

"It is unfortunate that people make up such false and vicious reports," he said at the time. "The reports are ludicrous."

That scandal did not hurt his career. This year Kang played Lee Cha Do in the drama "Incarnation of Money" and also filmed a road movie "Shoot the Sun." The movie was filmed in America with Yoon Jin Seo and will be released later this year. Kang made his debut in musicals such as "The Rocky Horror Show" and "Grease." His first drama was "Summer Scent" and his film debut was in "Host and Guest." He is appeared in the comedy film  "My Girlfriend Is An Agent," which later inspired the drama "Level 7 Civil Servant."