Actress Shim Eun Kyung, who has received immense love in both Korea and Japan after sweeping major awards at the Japan Academy, has spoken out about rumors that she relocated to Japan. She surprised many by revealing that she was forced to remain in Japan for two years, adding that she was unable to keep a promise she had made to her family about returning to Korea.
On December 3 KST, film critic Lee Dong Jin posted a video titled “Interview with Actress Shim Eun Kyung, Returning with the Soon-to-Be Classic 'Two Seasons, Two Strangers'” on his channel. In the video, Shim Eun Kyung appeared as a guest to discuss behind-the-scenes stories from her new film 'Two Seasons, Two Strangers', as well as her career path and ongoing concerns as an actor.
Lee commented, “Many people are curious. Some wonder, ‘Why is an actress who performs so well so active in Japanese cinema?’ You’ve achieved such significant success there over the past eight years.” He then asked about her shift toward Japan starting in 2017 and her plans for balancing activities in both countries.
Shim Eun Kyung answered candidly, explaining that the primary reason was the COVID-19 pandemic. “I signed a contract in Japan in 2018 and began working there. After the release of The Journalist in 2019, I flew to Japan in March 2020 to attend the Japan Academy Awards,” she said. However, this coincided with the global outbreak of COVID-19. “I told my family in Korea, ‘I’ll be back right after the ceremony,’ but because of COVID, I couldn’t return. I ended up being unable to leave for two years,” she recalled.
She continued, “I already had scheduled work in Japan for 2020. If I had gone back to Korea even once, I wouldn’t have been able to re-enter Japan. So I had no choice but to stay.” She emphasized that traveling back and forth was physically impossible during that period. “Some people thought I had ‘moved to Japan,’ but that’s absolutely not the case,” she firmly stated.
Beginning as a child actress, Shim Eun Kyung has built a solid career with acclaimed performances across both Korean and Japanese projects. She left a strong impression as young Nami in the 2011 film Sunny and earned praise—and box-office success—as the lead of the 2014 film 'Miss Granny'. In the latter half of the 2010s, she expanded her activities into the Japanese film industry. In 2019, she starred in the Japanese film 'The Journalist', becoming the first non-Japanese actor to win Best Actress at the 2020 Japan Academy Awards. She now returns to audiences with director Miyake Sho’s film 'Two Seasons, Two Strangers', opening on December 10.
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