At the 61st Baeksang Arts Awards on May 5, 2025, a solemn pause in the ceremony gave way to a heartfelt tribute honoring legendary figures in Korean film and television. One of the standout moments was a replay of Song Hye Kyo’s emotional acceptance speech from the 2024 ceremony — a defining highlight in her already iconic career.
But what truly sent social media into a frenzy wasn’t just the tribute — it was the camera’s unspoken narrative. As the video played, the broadcast cut to Lee Byung Hun in the audience, his composed but unreadable expression stealing the spotlight. The unexpected shot quickly reignited public fascination with their past relationship.
Though Song Hye Kyo is widely known for her acclaimed roles in Full House, Autumn in My Heart, and Descendants of the Sun, her romantic history has also captivated the public. Over the years, she has been linked to A-list co-stars like Hyun Bin and Song Joong Ki. Yet, among them all, her early 2000s relationship with Lee Byung Hun remains one of the most talked-about.
First love at the age of 22
In 2003, Song Hye Kyo and Lee Byung Hun met on the set of their shared project “All In”. Despite only being 22, Song Hye Kyo already secured for herself the massive hit “Autumn in My Heart”, while Lee Byung Hun has risen to stardom via successful works like “Joint Security Area” and “Beautiful Days”.
The result of this collaboration was not only the huge popularity of “All In”, but also the birth of one of the most buzz-worthy couples at the time, as Song Hye Kyo and Lee Byung Hun announced their romantic relationship quickly after “All In” ended. Therefore, Lee Byung Hun was Song Hye Kyo’s first love.
Lee Byung Hun was Song Hye Kyo’s first love.
However, this romance was not well-received among the audience, who pointed out that their age difference of 11 years old was too much. In addition, Lee Byung Hun was said to be a total lady-killer, and so was deemed as a bad match for Song Hye Kyo.
Amid all these criticisms, however, Song Hye Kyo was drowned in her love. And Lee Byung Hun also added to such intensity by saying lines like “Song Hye Kyo is my angel, I want to marry her.” Everytime the couple appeared together, hearts had to flutter with their tightly linked hands.
Song Hye Kyo and Lee Byung Hun tightly holding hands.
At the age of 22, Song Hye Kyo has attained both career and love. She had wealth, popularity, and a total charmer as her boyfriend.
As a result, Song Hye Kyo was living a rose-tinted life. Throughout the entire relationship with Lee Byung Hun, the actress was always happy, smiling, blissed as if she had achieved a happily ever after.
The buzz-worthy breakup
Lee Byung Hun even brought Song Hye Kyo home to his family, raising suspicions about a possible marriage. Via the photo together, it seemed that his family was also super happy with Song Hye Kyo, and everyone believed that nuptials were underway.
However, the couple announced their separation after just one year of dating, leading to various assumptions about the reasons behind it. Some even pointed out alleged “evidence” that Song Hye Kyo and Lee Byung Hun both blamed the other side.
In particular, Lee Byung Hun shared with ypnews that: “My mother wanted me and Song Hye Kyo to get married right in 2004, but she refused, saying that she wanted to focus on her career.”
Meanwhile, Song Hye Kyo disclosed with Fuji TV about a past relationship, saying: “I met him 2 years after our breakup and felt extremely hurt to see him with another woman.”
While the actress never mentioned any names, most people automatically assumed that it must have been Lee Byung Hun. In addition, they suspected that Song Hye Kyo might be hinting about Lee Byung Hyun’s playboy habits.
Some people suspected that Lee Byung Hun was too much of a lady-killer.
However, there were other rumors as well, especially after 2004, when Song Hye Kyo starred alongside Bi Rain in the hit K-drama “Full House”. At the time, many people believed that Song Hye Kyo fell out of love with Lee Byung Hun for Bi Rain, so Bi Rain must be the cause of the breakup.
The rumors got so bad at the time, that both Song Hye Kyo and Bi Rain had to clarify that they were just close friends.
There were also other shocking rumors about this ground-breaking separation, even including one where Lee Byung Hun was accused of being a sex addict. Of course, they should just be taken with a grain of salt.
Still painful to recall after 10 years
As Lee Byung Hun was her first love, and Song Hye Kyo was only 23 at their separation, the end results came as a major shock to the famous actress.
In fact, Song Hye Kyo had an extremely rough time after the breakup, and even quitted eating until she was just bones and skin. From her previous lively and happy image, Song Hye Kyo turned into a lost and directionless person, who only overcame this period with the support of her friends and family.
Song Hye Kyo had an extremely rough time after her breakup with Lee Byung Hun.
Even years later, it is still painful for Song Hye Kyo to recall this relationship. In 2014, when asked by Fuji TV which relationship was the most memorable to her, the actress simply answered: “My first love”, indicating her love with Lee Byung Hun.
After Lee Byung Hun, Song Hye Kyo started to become more private about her personal affairs. When in a relationship with fellow actor Hyun Bin, she never even revealed any photo with him. Now, Lee Byung Hun has settled down with actress Lee Min Jung, while Song Hye Kyo married Song Joong Ki, only to divorce him 2 years later.
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