Nam Joo-hyuk and Lee Sung-kyung aren’t the only Korean actors to fall in love – from Descendants of the Sun’s ‘Song Song couple’ to Lee Min-ho and Park Min-young, 6 times K-drama co-stars started dating off screen

Dec 17 , 2020

Lee Dong-gun and Jo Yoon-hee, and Song Hye-kyo and Song Joong-ki. Photo: AP, @ kdrama_and_kpop_fan_india/Instagram

Dating remains a controversial and sensitive issue for Korean celebrities. K-pop stars are forbidden from dating as trainees, and long after finding fame music artists and K-drama actors often keep their relationships discreet so they don’t cause a scandal among their fans.

But at times actors establish such a convincing on-screen connection with their co-star that fans go wild imagining them dating in real life. And sometimes the TV chemistry can indeed result in an off-set relationship – and marriage or heartbreak later on.

Here are six couples who fell in love through their K-drama work.

Ryu Soo-young and Park Ha-sun

In an episode of KBS talk show Happy Together, actor Ryu Soo-young shared how he knew that his Two Weeks co-star, Park Ha-sun, was the woman he wanted to marry. They were sitting on a playground swing, and when Ryu went in for a kiss, Park surprisingly pushed back and laughed. They went public with their relationship in 2015 and got married and had a child in 2017.

Lee Dong-gun and Jo Yoon-hee

They were the lead couple in The Gentlemen of Wolgyesu Tailor Shop in 2016. The following year, they announced their relationship, got married and had a daughter together. Unfortunately, they got divorced this year, citing personality differences as the reason for their split.

Lee Chun-hee and Jeon Hye-jin

This pair portrayed a couple who slowly developed feelings for one another, eventually falling in love, in 2009 TV romcom Smile, You. They became a real-life couple despite their nine-year age gap, tying the knot and having a child in 2011.

Nam Joo-hyuk and Lee Sung-kyung

Bae Suzy isn’t the only actress that Nam Joo-hyuk had on-screen sparks with. He also had a strong bond with Lee Sung-kyung in Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo, and the two admitted that they were dating in 2017. Their agency, YG Entertainment, stated that they had been close since their modelling days. But their relationship wasn’t meant to be – they split that same year due to conflicting schedules.

Song Hye-kyo and Song Joong-ki

The “Song-Song couple”, who co-starred in Descendants of the Sun , took the world by storm when they announced their marriage in 2017 after previously denying rumours that they were dating. But the whirlwind romance ended in a divorce after just 20 months.

Park Min-young and Lee Min-ho

Although their relationship bloomed when they co-starred in 2011 drama City Hunter, the two had already acted together in 2007’s I Am Sam. Park’s agency at the time, King Kong Entertainment, commented that the couple were “quite in tune with one another” when they went public the same year that City Hunter aired. However, they broke up after just five months because of that No 1 relationship-ender – scheduling conflicts.

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South Korean celebrities

Sparks might fly between Bae Suzy and Nam Joo-hyuk in Start-Up, but the K-drama actor actually dated his Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo co-star in 2017, while Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo caused a stir with their divorce after just20 months of marriage