Lee Jun Ki Decides Against Joining "I Night, 2 Days"

Actor Lee Jun Ki will not be joining the variety show "1 Night, 2 Days." 

The actor, who recently won the 2013 APAN "Best Leading Actor" award for his performance in the thriller drama "Two Weeks," was rumored to be taking part in the variety show. Representatives from KBS recently said that the actor decided to decline.

"Kim Joon Ho, Kim Joo Hyuk, Jung Joon Young, and Defconn have been chosen as the new season three members," said a KBS representative. "They already started filming. Lee Jun Ki did not participate in the first filming session and he will not join the cast of the third season."

The actor did receive an offer to appear in the show and was in talks with the production team until shortly before filming began. But at the last minute, scheduling conflicts forced him to change his mind about taking part.

"Although it is true that we thankfully received a casting offer from KBS, Lee Jun Ki already has a fan meeting and other scheduled events lined up and more than anything he wants to focus on acting," said a representative from his agency IMX Korea. "Acting is his strength. We decided that this may conflict with his acting activities so we respectfully rejected the offer."

The actor wants to be careful not to over-schedule himself and worried that participating in "I Night, 2 Days" might limit his ability to take on another attractive acting project.

"If he starts work on another project, it will be difficult for him to film 'I Night, 2 Days' at the same time so he will not appear on the show," said the IMX representative.

Lee Jun Ki has also learned to pace himself. He recently spoke up about the emotional and physical exhaustion he felt after he finished filming the fast-paced thriller "Two Weeks." In that drama he played a man on the run from both gangsters and the law. He had two weeks to deliver life-saving bone marrow to his sick daughter but would not be able to do so if he died or wound up in prison.

The actor made his film debut in "The King and The Clown" and is known in Korea as the original flower boy. Recently he has worked to shed his flower boy image by taking on other kinds of roles. He also appeared in the dramas "Iljimae" and "Arang and the Magistrate."