Gong Yoo: Chinese Media Outlet Claims ‘Goblin’ K-Drama Star Has Severe Health Issues, SOOP Entertainment Responds To Chinese Reports

K-dramas and K-movies are far more popular than ever before, but if we were to point out actors and actresses responsible for paving the way for today’s Hallyu entertainment, Gong Yoo would surely be on the list. The veteran actor of the Korean silver and small screen has been in front of viewers since 2001. However, he started to make a name for himself in K-dramas Biscuit Teacher and Star Candy opposite Gong Hyo Jin (Producer, Jealousy Incarnate) and Coffee Prince opposite Yoon Eun Hye (Princess Hours,My Fair Lady).

Starting last year, Gong Yoo made a comeback per se since 2013. First, he starred in three K-movies, A Man and a Woman, The Age of Shadows, and Train to Busan. The latter in that trio is so far the most popular movie he has starred in alongside Ma Dong Seok of 38 Task Force fame. Finally and most importantly, Gong Yoo made a major impact with his K-drama return in Goblin. The last Total Variety Network (tvN) K-drama of 2016 playing over to 2017 has dominated in viewership both domestically in South Korea and internationally. It may even surpass Reply 1988 in viewership ratings in which it would become the most popular K-drama to air on a Korean cable network.

With so much hype surrounding Gong Yoo because of his comeback, it would only be a matter of time until something big would be reported on him. With that in mind, Chinese media outlets are reporting that Gong Yoo has severe health issues. These allegations caused SOOP Entertainment, Gong Yoo’s agency, to respond.

From what reports say, Chinese media outlets are claiming that Gong Yoo is suffering from “severe health issues,” as reported by AllKpop. They did not say what exactly the “severe health issues” were, but it was enough to cause panic among K-drama fans of both Gong Yoo and Goblin in which SOOP Entertainment had to step in and release a statement on the matter.

“The reports about Gong Yoo’s health is false. It’s true that he’s been tired lately wrapping up filming [for Goblin], but he does not have any severe health issues at all. Chinese fans showed concerns and wrote on SNS that Gong Yoo does not look too well. A Chinese media outlet then reported about Gong Yoo’s health issues, but currently, he’s doing his best to film Goblin.”

Summarized, the Chinese media outlets got their information on Gong Yoo’s “severe health problems” from a Chinese netizen’s concern for Gong Yoo. A second source from SOOP Entertainment put more emphasis on the distortion of the social media update in his or her statement, as reported by Soompi.

“It seems a rumor that started on Chinese social media got distorted. [Gong Yoo] is currently filming to the best of his ability.

If Gong Yoo is tired by the sheer amount of scenes he has to act in, he can look forward to the fact that Goblin only has four more episodes until it concludes. [WARNING: Spoilers Ahead!] K-drama fans who’ve been loyal to Goblin are starting to see revelations unfold pertaining to relationships between certain characters such as the Grim Reaper (Lee Dong Wook) and Sunny (Yoo In Na). The situation with that relationship reaching its climax will lead up to Kim Shim (Gong Yoo) and Jin Eun Tak’s (Kim Go Eun) relationship moving forward. Right now, it is somewhat stagnant though the two are in a good place in it.

Goblin airs on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. KST on tvN. For those who do not have access to Korean cable channels, it can be viewed exclusively in North America on DramaFever by its other title, Goblin: The Lonely and Great God. It can also be viewed in Europe exclusively on Viki.

[Featured Image by Next Entertainment World]