Go Hyun-jung Went Viral After Revealing About Her Real Life K-Drama Divorce With SAMSUNG Chaebol (+Summary Of Her Life)

On January 16, the video of actress Go Hyun-jung’s conversation with musician Jeong Jae-hyung was posted on his Youtube channel @fairyjaehyung. After almost two months, the 45-minute video has had more than 5.1 million views, becoming the most viewed on this channel.

Go Hyun-jung’s failed marriage

Go Hyun-jung was born in 1971 and graduated with a degree in Performing Arts from Korea’s leading private university, Dongguk University. At the age of 18, she won 1st runner-up in the Miss Korea pageant. With this solid foundation, she stepped into the entertainment industry with a series of hit dramas and made a strong impression on the audience, making her one of the A-list stars.
In 1995, in the midst of her rising career, she suddenly announced her marriage to the grandson of Samsung founder Lee Byung-chul. At this time, Shinsegae Group still belonged to Samsung, and her legendary mother-in-law Lee Myung-hee was taking on the position of Chairman with a fortune of 1.3 billion USD. According to Naver, Go and her husband met by chance at the Winter Garden theater in New York City.

Before she officially divorced him in November 2003, the public repeatedly raised rumors about her unhappy marriage through images taken by journalists at events of the rich family. After 8 years of marriage, Go Hyun-jung left the Lee family with a compensation of only 1.5 billion won and agreed to give up custody of her two children. Two years after the divorce, Shinsegae passed a ruling saying that none of their stores were allowed to display anything related to Go.

Go Hyun-jung’s remarks about life during and after marriage

In an episode of MBC’s “Golden Fishery – The Guru Show” broadcast on January 21, 2009, Go Hyun-jung was asked if she was isolated by her husband’s family who used foreign languages when chatting in front of her. The actress replied “There is absolutely no such thing, they are all well-educated people and will not do such childish things like that in front of other people”.

“We dated for 2 years. I got married when I was 22 years old, he was 25 years old. Because I was young at that time, I didn’t understand what it would be like to become a chaebol. When I married him, many people said I married for money but absolutely not. I really liked him a lot, he has a good sense of humor and good personality. We always encourage each other to be better. In my eyes, there was only him, I really wanted to give birth to his kids and have many children together. I liked him so much that I retired because of him.”

Go Hyun-jung affirmed that she would marry her ex-husband again if he were just a normal person. When asked about the difficulties of being a chaebol’s bride, she hinted that she could not meet the great expectations that a tycoon’s wife must have. “I think I got married too young. We were no longer dating and had entered the marriage state. If I learnt more and met him when I was more mature, I think I could satisfy the expectations which I couldn’t do at that time.”

After more than 20 years since the divorce, Go made statements that are considered quite ironic. Specifically, in the recent talk show broadcast on musician Jeong Jae-hyung’s Youtube channel, Go praised the dishes on the table for their great taste, Jeong then replied: “They were bought at Hyundai shopping center.” The actress laughed and said, “Thank you, I’m glad it’s not from Shinsegae”. The actress shared, “I have been quite steadfast and have no regrets about getting married. I am very grateful that everyone is interested in this marriage. However, many private photos were taken. I don’t want to be photographed like that, but there are many situations where I can’t do anything.” Sharing about the reason why she has few works compared to her peers, she honestly said that it was because she received few invitations.

Go Hyun-jung and her ex-husband Chung Yong-jin’s life after the divorce

After the divorce, Go returned to the entertainment industry and worked under her brother’s company, IOK Company. She made a name for herself with productions such as Queen Seondeok (2009), Queen’s Classroom (2013), Mask Girl (2023).
According to Naver, after the divorce, Chung Yong-jin had a difficult time forgetting his ex-wife before getting married to the daughter of the Vice President of Korean Air in 2011. As the only son of Lee Myung-hee, he is always in the Top 50 richest people in Korea. After 18 years, on March 8, he officially became Chairman of Shinsegae Group. In addition to possessing enormous wealth, he also has an Instagram account with more than 884,000 followers.

More about Go Hyun-jung’s relationship with Samsung

Chung Yong-jin is the grandson of Samsung founder Lee Byung-chul. Samsung’s late Chairman Lee Kun-hee is his uncle and Chairman Lee Jae-yong is his cousin. Before their divorce in 1997, Shinsegae was a subsidiary of Samsung, so Go Hyun-jung is still considered the former daughter-in-law of the Samsung family.

Go Hyun Jung’s two children

After getting married, the actress gave birth to her first son, Chung Hae-chan, in 1998, and her daughter, Chung Hae-in, was born in 2000.
In the book “Beauty Docu – Go Hyun Jung’s Texture,” she shared, “I am a Pisces, this symbol is like the connection between parents and children, connected by an eternal thread, right from the beginning, even when the umbilical cord is cut or when they can’t see each other. I always wish them happiness.” This is a rare time Go shared about her children.

Like many other chaebol’s kids, Hae-chan and Hae-in were sent to America for their studies. Hae-chan graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Hotel Management from the prestigious Cornell University and a Master’s degree in Fitness and Sports Management from Indiana University.
Hae-in was the president of the Korean Student Association at Syracuse University, and she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Marketing. In contrast to their billionaire background, both brothers live a private life.