SEOUL • First, she slapped a taxi driver.

When the scene switched to a police station, she attacked two officers.

But Han Ji-sun, 25, was not showcasing her acting skills in an episode of South Korean TV drama The Secret Life Of My Secretary.

She erupted in violence, fuelled by alcohol, in September last year and is now paying the price after news outlet Channel A revealed what she did.

Han has been dropped from the TV drama and told to reflect on her behaviour and responsibility as a public figure.

In the competitive South Korean entertainment industry, the scandal can be a death sentence for one's career and Han must now be fearing the worst.

Her troubles started after she hailed a taxi outside a Seoul cinema.

According to Channel A, she slapped the 61-year-old driver's face and hit his head with a water container.

She was upset that the taxi was not going to the destination she stipulated.

"She started cursing immediately and the beating started," the driver recalled.

When the authorities were summoned, she was taken to the police station, where Han slapped an officer's face and bit the arm of another officer.

The actress was fined five million won (S$5,800) and given a one-year probation for obstruction of justice.

But she is now paying a higher price after Channel A broke the news, forcing the producers of The Secret Life Of My Secretary to go into damage control.

While Han has a supporting role in the drama, it is a key one, noted the producers, who added that they will alter the script and edit out the scenes she appears in.

The producers asked for understanding, noting that not all her scenes could be cut out because reshooting them would upset the production schedule, causing inconvenience to other cast members.

Another company, e-commerce outfit We Make Price, is also upset with Han.

It said it did not know about her assaults when she was engaged for a modelling stint.

Han may have to compensate the company for the damage to its reputation.

The actress has at least closed one chapter of her nightmare, by apologising to the taxi driver.

According to the Soompi portal, they met recently.

She was teary-eyed and told him that she does not drink anymore.

The driver accepted her apology, which apparently had come late because she did not have his contact number until recently.