13 most shocking news of Korean celebrity couples in 2021 as voted by 200 industry insiders: 2 members of BLACKPINK enter the list although both are not confirmed by YG
Notably, the top 3 couples in this survey were all reported by Dispatch in the first months of this year.
Joy News 24 recently conducted a survey with industry professionals to celebrate the 17th anniversary and look back on the memorable milestones of Korea’s entertainment industry throughout 2021. 200 industry insiders including senior staff of entertainment companies, TV stations, film and TV content production crews, entertainment news reporters,… participated in this large-scale survey by Joy News 24.
Besides the surveys that honor the achievements of singers and actors in the past year, this year, Joy News 24 also opened a vote on the most surprising reports and rumors of celebrity couples. Since the first day of 2021, Korea’s entertainment industry has been showered with news of celebrity relationships and even breakups. Among them, there are couples who not only bring big surprises to their fans, but also to industry insiders.
According to the survey results revealed by Joy News 24, YG’s idol couple – G-Dragon (Big Bang) and Jennie (BLACKPINK), lead the votes when 28 experts in the entertainment industry pick them as the duo with the most shocking dating rumor of 2021. G-Dragon and Jennie’s relationship was first “exposed” on February 24 by Dispatch in an exclusive article claiming they were dating for a year. At the time, YG Entertainment neither confirmed nor denied the report, but only gave a vague response, “We cannot confirm what is related to the artists’ private lives.” In August of this year, Star News published another exclusive news disclosing that G-Dragon visited the set of Jennie’s photo shoot for a brand she represents. This has indirectly proved the two popular idols are dating, although YG did not acknowledge it.
Ranked 2nd after G-Dragon – Jennie with a difference of only 1 vote is the A-list actor duo Hyun Bin and Son Ye Jin. They are the first celebrity couple “exposed” by Dispatch in 2021 when their dating news was reported on January 1. Before that, Hyun Bin and Son Ye Jin had been embroiled many times in dating rumors after working together on successful projects such as “The Negotiation” and “Crash Landing on You”, but their agencies kept denying the rumors by stating that the two are only close friends. It wasn’t until early this year, after Dispatch released exclusive photos of their dates, that the couple admitted to having started seeing each other since last March.
Not long after publicly dating, the couple was also rumored to be preparing for marriage after Hyun Bin was discovered to have bought a luxury penthouse. Hyun Bin’s side then denied the marriage rumors by sharing that the house he bought was not the newlywed home with Son Ye Jin. However, the love story of these two famous actors still attracts special attention from industry insiders, receiving 27 votes in Joy News 24’s survey.
The concept of “shocking dating news” in Joy News 24’s survey is not only beautiful love stories that the public has never known before. In fact, many experts who participated in this survey also mentioned that the news of breaking up, getting married, divorced or having children is equally shocking in 2021. The most typical is the relationship between Kim Jung Hyun and Seo Yeji – the couple ranked 3rd on this list with 22 votes received from experts.
The case of actor Kim Jung Hyun being rude to Seohyun (SNSD) during the filming and promotion of the drama “Time” (MBC) in 2018 was suddenly dug up in April this year, right after Dispatch announced Kim Jung Hyun’s love relationship. According to Dispatch, Seo Yeji, Kim Jung Hyun’s ex-girlfriend, forced him not to say a word to or greet the female cast members, nor to act in intimate scenes with other actresses. Furthermore, Kim Jung Hyun’s abrupt departure from “Time” while the film was in production is thought to be related to Seo Yeji, causing the keyword “Seo Yeji gaslighting” to become a hot topic in Korea earlier this year.
With 21 votes from industry insiders, veteran actor Kim Yong Gun‘s love scandal ranked 4th on the list of the most shocking dating rumors in 2021. In August of this year, Kim Yong Gun was sued by a woman (temporarily called A), who is 39 years younger than him, for forcing her to have an abortion. Kim Yong Gun has been dating A for 13 years, starting when Kim Yong Gun was 63 years old and A was only 24 years old. After A became pregnant, Kim Yong Gun refused to let her give birth to the baby. A’s lawsuit against Kim Yong Gun also indirectly made their relationship public. Following that, Kim Yong Gun met with A and discussed the misunderstanding. After Kim Yong Gun promised to add A’s child’s name in the household registration and take responsibility for raising the child at the age of 76, A forgave Kim Yong Gun and withdrew the lawsuit.
In addition to the above 4 love stories, 9 other dating / breakup / marriage / divorce rumors were also mentioned by industry experts in a survey with Joy News 24 including: “Hwang Jung Eum reunited”, “Yoon Kye Sang got married”, “Joy – Crush dated”, “Kim Heechul – Momo broke up”, “Han Ye Seul got married”, “Jeon Ji Hyun and her husband divorced”, “Son Heung Min – Jisoo dated”, “iKON Bobby has a baby”, “Lee Soo Man – Jo Joo Hee dated”.
