From the iconic Song-Song couple of Descendants of the Sun to the memorable Hyun-Hyun couple from My Love From The Star, it’s no secret that K-Dramas have some of the best love teams ever.
But why is it so rare to see the romance between celebrities off-screen? Even K-Pop idols rarely get into public relationships!
Are you curious about the dark secrets behind celebrity relationships–or lack thereof? Then read on! We’ll tell you everything you need to know about the secret world of celebrity romance.
Do Korean Idols & Celebrities Get Married?
It’s rare to see young celebrity couples. Most actors and idols in their 20s are usually single. Whenever there are exceptions, they sometimes get a lot of backlash from the public.
It’s more common to see older and more veteran actors and idols who are in public relationships. Since they already have established careers and a solid fan base, they can have more time to focus on dating and building relationships.
Why Korean Idols & Celebrities Don’t Get Married? The 5 Main Reasons
There are several reasons why celebrities choose to stay single–and some of them are not what you expect. Here are just some of the secrets behind the relationship status of celebrities!
1. Focus on Career
For many young celebrities, the question of career vs love life is almost always answered with career. The first few years of being a celebrity are the hardest. They have to work hard to get their name out there and be part of the industry.
These early years often have the most hectic schedules, especially for celebrities who want to prove themselves to the public and gain fans. This is one of the reasons why many young celebrities don’t get into relationships, let alone get married. Many of them don’t have a lot of free time to date around!
2. Employment Contract
In some cases, publicly dating can even be considered a breach of contract! For many rookie K-Pop idols, they aren’t allowed to date within the first few years of their careers. If word gets out that they are in a relationship, they can even be removed from their groups.
Some companies do this so their idols can put their full focus on gaining more fans and becoming more successful. Dating can be a distraction that rookie idols definitely don’t need.
For newer idols especially, they can get a lot of backlash from fans if they are revealed to be dating. That’s why to play it safe, many idols just don’t get into relationships during the early years of their careers.
3. Different Views On Marriage
Nowadays, Korean celebrities have a lot of different thoughts on getting married. While it’s the cultural norm to get married and carry on the family line, some people prefer to stay single.
Because of these different thoughts on relationships, finding “the right one” can be difficult–even for celebrities! There are also couples wherein one wants to get married while the other doesn’t. Celebrity superstar or not, it’s hard to find a compromise in these kinds of relationships!
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4. Reaction From Fans
The truth is, some celebrities do date. They just keep it hidden from the public!
And for good reason. Some fans get angry when they find out that their idols or biases are in a relationship. For these fans, they feel betrayed that their favorite actors or singers are dating someone. Sometimes the backlash gets too much that it turns into harassment.
While not all fans are like this, some celebrities prefer to play it safe by being as secretive about their relationships as possible. But not every celebrity is secretly dating. Some just prefer not to be in a relationship at all!
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5. Cultural Reasons
Over the past couple of years, Korean views on marriage have changed. Back then, everyone was expected to get married and start a family. Koreans also tended to get married early, during their 20s.
But now, many Korean people prefer to get married later in their lives. Many choose to prioritize their careers and other goals in life first before settling down. Some also do this so they are more financially stable before they start a family.
Some Koreans also just prefer to stay single. Many celebrities have said that marriage is not for them or that they are happy just being single. While this can be confusing for some people, many have also embraced this new norm.
Popular Idols & Celebrities That Are Still Not Married
Because of all these reasons, there are a lot of celebrities who aren’t married even though they’re at “that age” already. We’ve compiled just 5 of the ones who have been most vocal about their thoughts on marriage.
Girls’ Generation / SNSD Sunny
As a member of the “Nation’s Girl Group”, Sunny has often been asked about her relationship plans especially as she reached her 30s. But this powerhouse girl group member and variety show star reveals that she doesn’t have any plans for marriage.
Instead, Sunny has said multiple times that she feels like marriage simply isn’t for her. She even joked that she isn’t wide enough to get married!
Whatever her reasons may be, SONEs and fans all over the world still support Sunny.
Soloist / Former Monsta X Wonho
Formerly a member of the powerful boy group Monsta X, Wonho has since become a successful soloist. The contrast between his manly looks and sweet demeanor has definitely gained him a lot of admirers!
But this heartthrob isn’t settling down anytime soon. Even as he nears his 30s, the idol has said that he has never thought about getting married. In fact, Wonho isn’t worried about relationships because his older brother has already gotten married and carried on the family line.
Even without any romantic relationships, Wonho definitely gets all the love from WENEEs and MONBEBEs!
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Han So-Hee
It seems like her role in “The World of the Married” has definitely affected Han So-Hee’s views on marriage.
As one of South Korea’s newest TV darlings, Han So-Hee has been getting a lot of love lately. Whenever a celebrity gets to a certain level of fame, they’re asked about their relationship plans.
But So-Hee has said that she doesn’t think married life is for her. After seeing her character get so stressed about her relationship, she realized that marriage is much harder and more complicated than she thought.
Kim Hye-Soo
Kim Hye-Soo is one of the most beloved actresses in South Korea. This veteran actress has been dominating the silver screen for years, so it’s no wonder that many people are curious about her love life.
But when asked about marriage, she said that her priorities have changed over the years. When she was younger, she thought it would be nice to become a wife, but now she’s more focused on living for herself.
Kim Seo-Hyung
Another one of Korea’s most celebrated actresses is Kim Seo-Hyung. She is known for her powerful and charismatic performances, especially in roles like Shin Ae-Ri in “Temptation of Wife” and Coach Kim in “Sky Castle.”
Kim Seo-Hyung has definitely worked hard to be known as one of the country’s best. She even joked that she’s never felt the need to get married because she’s already married to work!
Popular Idols & Celebrities That Are Married
EXO Chen
EXO’s Chen is known for having one of the best voices in the industry. This legendary idol got married to his non-celebrity girlfriend last 2020. He must have won her over with his sweet voice! Since then, they’ve had two lovely children together.
While Chen likes to keep his relationship private, true fans of his definitely love that their bias can have a love life while still being an active idol.
Rain and Kim Tae-Hee
Singer-Actor Rain and actress Kim Tae-Hee’s relationship is definitely one for the books.
Kim Tae-Hee is often called the most beautiful woman in all of South Korea. That means she can’t be won over by just any man! And in fact, Rain has been very vocal about being rejected by Tae-Hee multiple times before they finally got into a relationship in 2013.
Now they’re happily married and considered one of the power couples of Korea. Rain is especially famous for always talking about how much he loves Tae-Hee and that she is his first love. How sweet is that?
Son Ye-Jin and Hyun Bin
Last but not the least is this couple that’s straight out of a K-Drama–literally! Son Ye-Jin and Hyun Bin prove that actors can have a happy ending even off-camera.
These two became one of the most popular love teams because of the worldwide sensation “Crash Landing On You.” Everyone was obsessed with their on-screen chemistry, but it turns out the two of them were falling in love off-screen too!
They got married in a private ceremony in March 2022. By November 27 of the same year, the two were given another blessing as Ye-Jin gave birth to their first child, a son as beautiful as his parents.
Big Bang Taeyang & Min Hyo-Rin
This celebrity couple has the cutest backstory! Back in 2014, Taeyang from the legendary K-Pop group Big Bang needed an actress to star in his newest music video. Thanks to his best friend and fellow member G-Dragon, the actress Min Hyo-Rin was recommended for the role.
Ever since then, the two have gone on several dates and slowly started falling in love. They are a unique celebrity pairing because they’ve been very open about their relationship from the beginning.
Even after they got married in 2018, these two still mention each other a lot when starring in variety shows or doing interviews. We guess they just can’t get enough of each other!
Jo Jung-Suk & Gummy
You’ll definitely swoon for this musical couple! Actor Jo Jung-Suk and singer Gummy are both known for their amazing voices. It turns out, these two are in for the duet of their lives!
They were introduced by a mutual friend in 2013. Ever since then, they’ve been bonding over their shared love for music. In 2018, the two finally tied the knot.
In 2020, Gummy gave birth to their first child, a beautiful daughter. Who knows? Maybe she’ll inherit her parents’ singing skills too!
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What did you think of our article? Let us know which reason why celebrities are single shocked you the most. And don’t forget to tell us all about your favorite celebrity couple in the comments!
The Korean celebrity dating scene can be hard to navigate, but many celebrities are still able to find love when they can. But for some, it seems like “happily ever after” doesn’t include marriage at all.
If you liked this article, go check out our other posts on The Best Korean Dating Shows and our guide on Dating In Korea As A Foreigner.
What a sick, sick, sick society Korea is!!!!!!