'River Where The Moon Rises' Features Actor Na In-Woo's First Appearance As Main Lead

South Korean actor Na In-Woo, who will be starring as the main lead in "River Where The Moon Rises" alongside Actress Kim So-Hyun, made his first appearance in the latest episode of the ongoing drama Thursday.

Kim Ji-Soo, who played the role of On-Dal in the drama, was removed from the cast lineup due to the recent school violence and bullying accusations against him. Following this, Na replaced Kim as the male protagonist in the series, according to Soompi.

Recently, KBS released a statement announcing that Kim will be edited out as much as possible in episodes 7 and 8, whereas, they will be re-filming the drama with Na from episode 9.

"With deep awareness of this situation’s severity, KBS considered all potential measures including the entire cancellation of 'River Where the Moon Rises' broadcasts. However, if we cancel all upcoming broadcasts, there was inevitable concern about causing disappointment to viewers who have loved “River Where the Moon Rises” for leaving it as an incomplete drama. In addition, we had to consider the harm that would be caused to many people who have positively contributed including staff members, actors, and the production company," the statement mentioned, Soompi reported.

Na immediately began re-shooting for the series as the main lead and viewers got a glimpse of his first appearance as On-Dal in episode 7 that aired Thursday.

Meanwhile, several actors who were cast in the drama including Lee Ji-Hoon, Wang Bit-Na, Choi Yu-Hwa, Ki Eun-Se, Ryoo Ui-Hyun and Kim Hee-Jung have offered to re-film the shoots without receiving payments.

"The production company has also suffered damage due to this incident. They are co-workers, and this decision was made with the hope that it could be of even a small amount of help," Lee Ji-Hoon's agency, TH Company added, Soompi reported.

The drama has successfully maintained its viewership ratings despite the difficulties faced by the production team and changes made to the casting. According to Nielsen Korea, the latest episode recorded average nationwide ratings of 6.7 and 8.7%, which is similar to the previous episode which raked in ratings of 6.6 and 9.2%.

Meanwhile, actress Kim So-Hyun is also starring in the Netflix series "Love Alarm 2," which is scheduled to air on March 12.