12 of our favourite Korean celebrity couples that are still going strong

Lee Byung-hun and Lee Min-jung dated for a while in 2006, called it quits, and then rekindled their love in 2012. The couple tied the knot in August 2013, and welcomed their first child about one-and-a-half years later. On an episode of Korean variety show You Quiz on the Block, the 53-year-old actor said the reason he was attracted to her was because of her sense of humour. “Thanks to her, I often smile and laugh,” he told the hosts. Aww…

As a certified barista, Byung-hun makes her a cup of coffee every morning, while she cooks for him when he’s hungry. Guess the way to a person’s heart is through their stomach, indeed!

You might recognise Kim So-yeon as the feisty Cheon Seo-jin in hit drama Penthouse, but did you know her husband also appeared in the drama? He had a small role in one of the episodes, where he played a paparazzi. Both husband and wife are known for their mild and soft-spoken personalities, making them a good match.

The pair had met on the set of drama Happy Home, and started dating shortly after. So-yeon revealed Sang-woo’s romantic side when she revealed on a talk show that he once brought home maki rolls in the shape of a bouquet! Call us practical, but we’d take food over flowers anytime.

Sooyoung and Jung Kyung-ho

Credit: Sooyoung and Kyung Ho’s Instagram

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Many are shocked when they find out that Girls’ Generation member and actress Sooyoung, and actor Jung Kyung-ho have been dating for 11 years. The pair was first revealed to be dating in 2014, despite them initially refuting the rumours. Since then, they have gotten comfortable with mentioning each other during interviews and TV shows, and are sometimes spotted out in public on dates – they even attended the Bruno Mars concert in Seoul together!

On a recent episode of a variety show, Sooyoung’s sister revealed that Sooyoung and Kyung-ho are a great match, and even when they are angry, they never take it out on each other. This might just be the key to their enduring relationship!

Ji Sung and Park Bo-young rank among South Korea’s most iconic celebrity couples. The pair crossed paths on the set of Save the Last Dance for Me, in which they were part of the leading cast. In 2007, they confirmed they were dating and married six years later. The couple share an eight-year-old daughter, and a five-year-old son. Ji Sung often shows off photos of his family on his Instagram account, and he’s even proudly uploaded photos of his kids’ drawings.

With a father who is a musical actor, and a mother who is one of the most popular ballad singers in South Korea with pipes of steel, we wouldn’t be surprised if Jo Jung-suk and Gummy’s daughter inherited their vocal prowess. Their love story started with a chance encounter through a mutual friend – Gummy’s friend brought her along to meet Jung Suk, the former’s co-star in a musical. The couple tied the knot in October 2018, and welcomed their first child in August 2020.

IU and Lee Jong-suk

Credit: IU and Lee Jong Suk’s Instagram

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When dating news of IU and Lee Jong-suk broke on December 31, 2022, fans were surprised because the two were known to be very good friends, having met as co-hosts on music show Inkigayo a decade ago. In a written letter to fans, confirming the news, Jong-suk revealed that a part of his heart had always belonged to IU and described the feeling he had for her back then as “more than just a fleeting love”. Kudos to him for moving out of the friend zone! The two have since openly shown their support for each other, and Jong-suk even attended the opening night of IU’s recent concerts in Seoul.

Li Seung-gi and Lee Da-in

Credit: Li Seung-gi/Instagram and Lee Da-in/Instagram

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Actors Lee Seung-gi and Lee Da-in made headlines when their relationship was officially announced in 2021 — and that they had actually started their romance at the end of 2020. Lee Seung Gi, 37, made his debut in 2004 as a singer, and has acted in several TV dramas including A Korean Odyssey (2017 to 2018), Vagabond (2019), and most recently, The Law Cafe (2022).

Lee Da-in, 28, is the daughter of veteran actress and singer Kyeon Mi Ri. She first appeared in TV series Twenty Years Old (2014) and more recently, the historical drama My Dearest (2023). The pair were reportedly brought together by their love for acting and love for playing golf, and welcomed their first child on Feb 5, 2024.

Fans of hit drama Crash Landing On You collectively swooned when the K-drama’s leading stars aka the BinJin couple made it official that they were dating IRL. The drama portrays the couple, both 42, as star-crossed lovers, with Hyun Bin as a North Korean captain and Son Ye Jin as a rich South Korean heiress and entrepreneur who are separated by the countries’ boundaries.

In 2021, the actors’ respective agencies confirmed that the pair “met through their projects, and after the end of their drama, their positive feelings towards one another developed into a romantic relationship”. They tied the knot in March 2022, and welcomed their first child in November that year.

They might be super low-key about their relationship and marriage (you won’t find photos of their other halves on both their social media accounts), but that hasn’t stopped them from being one of the most popular Korean celeb couples and a power couple – they topped the list of richest Korean celeb real estate moguls in 2020, with a combined 81.4bil won ($98mil) worth of real estate, and in March 2021, Kim made another 7.1bil won through the sale of her Gangnam building.

The two tied the knot in 2017, and even with their wealth, only spent S$1.6K on a simple cathedral wedding. They now have two kids. Rain, 41, reportedly also admitted that it took a year of wooing for Kim Tae Hee, 44, to accept him, and even wrote a proposal song titled ‘The Best Present’ for his now-wife. Too sweet!

Shin Min-ah & Kim Woo-bin

Credit: Shin Min-ah/Instagram & Kim Woo-bin/Instagram

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Shin Min-ah and Kim Woo-bin started dating in 2015, and their relationship is still going strong. A source told Korean entertainment site Dispatch that the two “started to show
interest from February (2015), when they were shooting ads together, and officially started to meet after May.” They’ve also weathered storms together, what with Woo Bin being diagnosed with nasopharyngeal cancer in 2017. Min-ah was spotted alongside the actor on his numerous drug and radiation therapy treatments, which later ended in 2019.

Woo-bin recently sent a coffee truck to show his support for his girlfriend on the set of her new drama, Karma. She had previously done the same while he was filming his movie, Officer Black Belt. We love a couple who shows their support for each other publicly!

Taeyang and Min Hyo-rin

Credit: Taeyang and Min Hyo Rin’s Instagram

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It’s always aww-inducing to hear of someone marrying their first love and BigBang’s Taeyang (Dong Young-bae), 35, did just that when he tied the knot with actress Min Hyo Rin, 38. The pair met in 2013 when the boy band member was on the search for a female lead to star in his music video for his hit single, 1AM.

After allegedly dating on the sly for a year-and-a-half, they went public in 2015, and got married in February 2018 with a star-studded church wedding and reception. Not only has he openly declared her his muse for his songs, he also made a sweet declaration in in his documentary White Night: “Even now, she’s the only person who continues to change me as a person. And those changes always make me into a better, more solid person. That’s why I decided to walk along with her for the rest of my life.”

In December 2021, Taeyang’s then-agency, YG Entertainment, confirmed that Hyo-rin had given birth to their first child.

Lee Kwang-soo and Lee Sun-bin

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After meeting on the set of Korean variety and game show Running Man in 2016, actress Lee Sun-bin and Lee Kwang-soo, 35, subsequently became friends and later took things to the next level, confirming their relationship in 2018. They weren’t shy about expressing their interest in each other as well.

On the show, Sun-bin had shared that Kwang-soo was her ideal man and actively expressed affection for him. Kwang-soo reciprocated the gesture, and even joked they would get married in a week. The couple has been seen out on dates in public, and was recently spotted together in Japan.

This article was originally published in Singapore Women's Weekly.