The South Korean pop culture and entertainment industry has gained immense popularity in recent decades. This popularity has seeped into the dating life of celebrities as well. Initially, dating was a difficult and unacceptable venture by many fans for Korean celebs, especially for K-pop idols who had to face heavy backlash in any scandal. This has improved in recent times as dating became more acceptable as many celebrities have even extended their dating life outside the country. Here’s a list of the top 10 Korean celebrities who dated foreigners.
1. Choo Sung-Hoon
Choo Sung-hoon a.k.a. Yoshihiro Akiyama is a fourth-generation Korean-Japanese MMA fighter. He rose to popularity as a South Korean T.V. celebrity with the reality show “The Return of Superman” which shows the daily life of male stars spending time with their kids apart from the mother. Choo Sung-hoon dated a Japanese top model, Shiho Yano, for 2 years before marrying her in 2009. The couple has a daughter named Choo Sarang.
2. Choo Ja-Hyun
Going by the stage name Choo Ja-hyun, Chu Eun-ju is a South Korean actress known for her work in the movies “Portrait of a Beauty” and “Bloody Tie”. She is also known to be active in the Chinese entertainment industry for the Chinese drama “The Temptation to Go Home”. In one such venture, she met the Chinese composer and actor Yu Xiaoguang in 2012 whom she later married in 2017. They had a son in 2018. They also appeared in the South Korean variety show “Same Bed, Different Dreams 2: You Are My Destiny”.
3. Bae Doona
Bae Doona is a South Korean actress and photographer who has recently reached new heights in her international popularity with the success of the Netflix science-fiction series “The Silent Sea”. In 2014 she revealed her relationship with the British Hollywood actor Jim Sturgess after costarring in the Hollywood blockbuster “Cloud Atlas”. They broke up in 2015.
4. G-Dragon
Big Bang’s G-Dragon is unquestionably one of the most famous K-pop celebrities and had been at the center of many dating scandals. Among those two of them stand out for being non-Korean. In 2010 news spread of G-Dragon dating the Japanese model, Kiko Mizuhara after they were seen being intimate with each other. These reports resurfaced numerous times in the following years but were denied every time by both of them. In 2015, he was again found to be in an intimate relationship with yet another Japanese model and actress, Nana Komatsu, after posting pictures of them together on his private Instagram account.
5. Park Joo-Ho
The South Korean football player, Park Joo-ho, is a defender for Suwon FC and was the captain of the South Korean national under-20 soccer team during the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup that was held in Canada. He met his wife Anna in Switzerland when he was a part of FC Basel from 2011 to 2013 and Anna worked part-time at a cafe inside the stadium. The couple has been blessed with one daughter, Na-eun, and two sons, Gun-hoo and Jin-woo, who are members of the cast of “The Return of Superman”.
6. Sunye
South Korean singer and actress Min Sun Ye a.k.a Sunye is the former leader and main vocalist of the girl group Wonder Girls. She met James Park, a Canadian missionary, in 2010 during a missionary trip to Haiti. They dated for 3 years until tying the knot on 26 January 2013, and Sunye took a break from the entertainment industry. The couple has three daughters named Eun-yoo, Ha-jin, and Yoo-jin.
7. Heechul
Kim Heechul, one of the most famous members of the idol group Super Junior, was in a relationship with Momo, the Japanese member of the girl group TWICE until they separate after a year and a half of dating in 2021. After several denials, they had finally made their relationship public in January 2020. Though the reasons behind the split are not known, both their companies officially confirmed the reports of their breakup.
8. Beenzino
Beenzino, or Lim Sung-bin, is a South Korean rapper known for his melodic rapping style and has with various well-known artists such as Epik High and Dok2. He started dating Stefanie Michova, a photographer, model, and music video director, in 2015 after being introduced by a mutual friend. Their relationship is still going strong with Beenzino’s official proposal on New Year’s Eve of 2021. The couple also appeared on tvN’s “On & Off” which shows their daily life as a couple.
9. Ham So Won
South Korean actress Ham So-won, known for her role in “Sex is Zero” is currently married to a Chinese businessman and ex-idol trainee Jin Hua who is 18 years younger than her. In the initial stages of dating, the couple faced heavy criticism from Jin Hua’s family due to the large age gap. These were eventually suppressed as Jin Hua, who fell in love at first sight, had already set his mind on marrying So-won.
10. Shin Joo Ah
South Korean actress Shin Joo-Ah who rose to popularity with her acting in movies like “Hero” and “Man to Man”, met her husband, a Thai conglomerate businessman, Saraut Rachanacun through a mutual friend. Saraut Rachanacun is a second-generation chaebol. The couple got married in 2014 in Thailand.
