"Ins was feeling a bit burnt out and at the end of (shooting) season five he basically was saying he was done," said Lee, who also starred in Choi's award-winning 2011 play "Kim's Convenience," which inspired the series.
"I kind of knew that there was always a potential of him stepping away," added Toronto-based Phung, who plays car-rental manager Kimchee.
"Making TV is hard. It takes so much time and so much out of you and I think that for him, he just wanted to spend time with his kids and he was really burnt out."
The Canadian Press asked for interviews with Choi and producer Ivan Fecan. A publicist said attempts to reach Choi were unsuccessful and Fecan declined.
Lee said producers told him in December that Choi wanted to leave the show, and that Fecan wondered if they might continue without Choi.
The cast and CBC agreed to pursue a sixth season, Lee said, but Fecan eventually decided it wasn't possible and called the actor last month to break the news.
"I'm really unhappy about how it ended, but all things being equal, it was a fantastic ride," he said.
Lee said he hasn't spoken with Fecan since that conversation and has tried to reach Choi.
"He ghosted me," Lee said of Choi, with whom he's worked for 10 years. "He wouldn't return my calls or my texts, and finally he responded via email saying he wasn't comfortable talking about it. And that was it."
Phung said the show's demise caught him off-guard and he calls it "a disappointing end."
"It hurts, but as a father of two young kids, I totally get it," Phung said. "I know there's been a bit of backlash against Ins. And I do want to say that he put so much love into the world he made, and so this decision wasn't made lightly for him."
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