SBS Weekend Drama "Five Fingers" production decided remove Ham Eun Jung from the cast. This news created ripples throughout the community and an official statement was released by the Korean Management Association. 

According to the KMA, Ham Eun Jung was removed without due cause even when she was preparing for the drama, attending all the press conferences and the poster shoots. The production company asked her to voluntarily step down from the production and if she didn't agree to this, they would remove her forcefully. The production company told her that they were changing the contract and told her that it was not in their best interest to hold on to her.

The KMA said, "In a drama production, it must be agreed upon and talked about way in advance if an actor/actress is to be removed. However, the production company and SBS forced this decision on her. Before they even told Ham Eun Jung, they started leaking stories to the press and announced the cancellation of the contract without consulting the party. This kind of behavior and lack of communication between talent and production companies have been a problem in the past and in order to advance, we must make sure that this doesn't happen again, starting with trying to fix Ham Eun Jung's defamation."

Ham Eun Jung was cast as the female lead and was scheduled to begin her appearance starting in the 5th episode. So far, the drama has aired 2. Her character, Hong Da Mi, is a pianist and through her pursuit of the study of piano, she meets the brothers Yoo Ji Ho and Yoo In Ha, and create a love triangle.

As a replacement for Ham Eun Jung, actress Jin Seh Yeon was casted, who is appearing in the KBS Weds/Thurs drama "Bridal Mask" currently. She has begun shooting and KBS is not happy about the fact that she is appearing in both dramas.

This news seems to be based on the T-ARA controversy, which shows no signs of dying down. Viewers and audience members are vowing to boycott programs and music that T-ARA is a part of, which is affecting a lot of their activities and projects that they're associated with. These anti-T-ARA fans had been requesting that Eunjung be taken off "Five Fingers" and "We Got Married."

The production company's decisino to remove ham Eunjung was something that was predictable. It is clear that they must have gone through a lot of discussion and pains to remove the actress who was set for the main female role in a love story. On the other hand, the claim from the KMA is also understandable. This has happened before. 

However, everything has its reasons and it's mostly based on the system by which dramas are now made. Most of the power is held by the broadcasting network but now some of that power has gone over to the stars. The production company really doesn't have much power compared to these two. Even the supporting cast members are being picked at the bequest of the management companies who hold the power of the bigger stars. 

Ham Eun Jung could be a top singer but she is definitely not that as an actress. In this case, she is definitely the victim and the production company is the perpetrator. However, it's interesting to see that one can understand the thought process behind the production company's decision. Ham Eun Jung is also notorious for drawing attention and criticism to her acting skills in every project she appears in, which is even worse for this particular case. The production company had been willing to undertake that risk and the handicap but now that the controversy is in full swing and viewers are threatening to not watch the show, they had no choice.

Both the production company and SBS feared the negative press that would lead to a decrease in viewer ratings. They both came to the agreement that they would rather not risk the entire drama for the sake of having an average actress, who only had her name going for her. It was their fault that they agreed to cast her in the first place and the fact that they canceled after the airing of the drama is also definitely appalling. 

Jin Se Yeon is also not a big actress and definitely not as well known. It's not enough to convince the viewers to watch the drama, when the actress is also appearing in a drama at a competing network. 

"A Gentleman's Dignity" was successful despite the fact that they cast lesser known names for the supporting roles like Yoon Se Ah and Yoon Jin Ee. This was because of the strength of the script and the directing. 

In that sense, "Five Fingers" failed on casting, the failures of casting as well as choosing perhaps a doubtful replacement. 

"Five Fingers" is currently holding relatively strong at 12.7% viewer ratings but this could be the result of the continuing success of "A Gentleman's Dignity" and following its timeslot. The real battle starts at the 5th episode, when the adult actors start to delve into the story.