5 K-drama actresses who married ultra-rich husbands: from Jun Ji-hyun and Claudia Kim, to ‘Korean Barbie doll’ Han Chae-young, Lee Si-young and Shin Joo-ah

Feb 25 , 2022

Find out which Korean actresses married into an ultra-rich family. Photos: @SBSfunE/Twitter, Huayi Brothers Korea/Handout, @claudiashkim/Instagram

K-drama darling Jun Ji-hyun tied the knot with Choi Joon-hyuk, who is now the CEO of Alpha Assets – but the pair knew each other from their junior school days

Claudia Kim, the star of Hollywood blockbusters Avengers and Harry Potter’s Fantastic Beasts, wed the former GM of WeWork Korea, Matthew Shampine

If you’re a K-drama fan, you’ve probably swooned over the heart-fluttering romantic moments in your favourite shows. But Korean actresses often live out their own versions of these scenes in real life, with glamorous weddings and even lavish proposals from their wealthy beaus.

Meet five Korean actresses who made headlines when they tied the knot with some of the country’s richest men.

1. Jun Ji-hyun

Jun Ji-hyun is one of Korea’s favourite actresses. Photo: @kdramadash/Twitter

In 2012, one of Korea’s all-time favourite actresses and CF queen Jun Ji-hyun married Choi Joon-hyuk, whom she knew since junior school. Her husband comes from a prestigious family – his grandmother Lee Young-hee was a famous hanbok designer and his grandfather ran a steel business.

A screenshot from the TV Chosun show Star Documentary My Way, showing Jun Ji-hyun’s husband Choi Joon Hyuk (far right). Photo: TV Chosun

After working for Bank of America, he joined his family business and became CEO and later largest shareholder of Alpha Assets in 2020. According to Maeil Business Newspaper, business is booming as sales revenues increased by seven times to 10.9 billion South Korean won (US$9.1 million) a year after he took the lead.

What’s more than K-drama-like is his proposal: he took Jun to Japan for a surprise trip and popped the question. Also, we can’t not point out that he has the looks of an actor too.

2. Soo-hyun

Soo-hyun, aka Claudia Kim. Photo: @claudiashkim/Instagram

Soo-hyun, also known by her English name Claudia Kim, rose to fame after her Hollywood roles in Avengers: Age of Ultron and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. She married Korean-American businessman Cha Min-geun (also known as Matthew Shampine) who used to be the general manager of WeWork Korea.