Some said that Lee Byung Hun's blackmail scandal would end his new marriage with actress Lee Min Jung, but the couple appeared close in recent photos of them taken in California. It was their second trip to California in the last month and reports say they are currently living there.

The future of the couple's marriage has been the subject of debate since the actor reported a blackmail attempt against him to the police late this summer. He said that GLAM's Da Hee and model Lee Ji Yeon asked for $5 million or they would release video footage of him engaged in a sexually explicit conversation. The women claimed the actor was having an affair with Lee Ji Yeon and the blackmail attempt was in retaliation for his breaking it off. The actor denied the affair, but the fact that he spent time with the women did lead some netizens to suspect his wife would not approve.

The blackmailers were arrested and have since been convicted.

The prosecution in the blackmail case said there was no evidence to support the claim that Lee Byung Hun had an affair with model Lee Ji Yeon, the rumors surrounding the circumstances of blackmail attempt, did make some wonder.

And after Lee Byung Hun reported the blackmail incident, break-up rumors grew because his wife spent the next few months living at her parents' home and rarely left the house. The couple has been married since 2013.

However, since then her representatives have insisted that the marriage is stronger than ever. They say that she did not want to live in her marital home for the time being because of the reporters waiting outside.

The couple was recently seen standing close together while shopping in Los Angeles. In the picture, she holds him tightly and he is carrying a shopping bag. The picture looks as if a fan asked them to stop and take a picture and someone took a picture of them posing. A photo of her shopping alone also circulated and in that photo she looked happy.

The couple might be in Los Angeles for a while as Lee Byung Hun is busy with Hollywood film projects including work on and for the film "Terminator: Genysis."

Lee Min Jung returned to Korea briefly because she had work commitments. He returned for the second trial of his blackmailers but was not around for the third, which ended in a conviction.

While in California, although they will occasionally be asked to pose for fan pictures, they will not have to deal with insistent reporters.