The scandal-filled days of summer isn’t slowing down one whit in K-ent. Following on the heels of Park Yoochun‘s series of rape allegations, less legally damaging but salacious enough is news that actress Kim Min Hee is reportedly having an extra-marital affair with acclaimed movie director Hong Sang Soo. The 57 year old director and 35 year old actress met in late 2014 while filming the movieĀ Right Now, Wrong Then, and thereafter in 2015 Kim Min Hee and Jo In Sung broke up and followed by Hong Sang Soo moving out of his house he shared with his wife and kids. Neither Kim Min Hee nor Hong Sang Soo has commented on this alleged affair but Hong Sang Soo’s wife of over two decades has publicly stated that she has not and will never grant Hong Sang Soo a divorce and still loves him and believes that he will come home to her and the kids.
Two years ago the laws in South Korea were changed so that adultery is no longer a criminal offense though the spurned spouse can still bring a civil suit for alienation of affection. No such litigation is pending at this point and the messy failure of a marriage is such a personal thing that commentary is rather besides the point for outside observers. Nonetheless this will likely have a huge impact on the career of Kim Min Hee since being seen as an adulteress in conservative South Korea is going to take a hit on her image and with it CF and potential new roles.
Wow, news now a days in Korean entertainment sure leaves a nasty taste.
All the scandals that got out make me become more suspicious, are they covering up something bigger? You know.. just like in political korean dramas..lol..
I was thinking the exact thing! Use celebrities as scrap goat for something craizier/bigger
Me tooo! Conspiracy theories ??
“The messy failure of a marriage is such a personal thing that commentary is rather besides the point for outside observers.”
This, can’t put it better.
I can only feel for the wife and children…it’s a sad mess I’m sure.
And she still won’t leave him. I say, have some self-respect. Get divorced and let him pay for child support for the rest of his life. That’ll teach him something. The cheating scumbag.
He just refused to pay for his daughter’s University fees. You think divorce won’t be messy? They have been married 30 years.
“Korea still has no law that provides for alimony or child support in divorce; divorce settlements generally provide for this assistance, IF they are agreed upon”
https://news.vice.com/article/cheating-husbands-in-south-korea-arent-allowed-to-divorce-their-estranged-wives
@Ck1Oz: “he just refused to pay for his daughter’s university fees”
What is this shit now?!
Such an irony that they got together over the project “Right now, Wrong then”. Affairs are always wrong then, wrong now!
@ Peeps:
He stopped paying for daughter’s uni fees bec job offers started drying up for Kim Min-hee after the news of her being 3rd party was known in the industry.
So now he supposedly needs to support KMH financially to tide her over ‘rough time’, as doting bf and provider.
What a terrible person?
What the actual f@$#?!
Die. He can just go die. I don’t care what people do with their lives but if they mess with their kids, they’re dead to me.
I know many people work for their own uni fees but that’s when they know that they have to. To suddenly be dropped such a bomb and then the reason… gosh, his poor kid.
He is probably trying to get his wife to divorce him by stopping payment for the university fees.
It’s sad that the daughter and wife ended up as victims for these two jokers. How cruel can he be? What is so good about kim min hee that she can get all the hunky BFs and now an old man to leave everything for her?
@Ck1Oz
I don’t understand why a father wouldn’t want to pay for his daughter’s education. It’s quite sad that.
Wow, S. Korean tabloid reporters must have been very happy recently, so much to write about and so productive.
How come she is an adultress and he is not? They both cheated. She is not the one who is married. Also we never know what have been discussed between those two. He probably told her that he will leave his wife etc. etc.
The weird thing is that this is like one of his films. Or maybe not so weird.
His wife is the hardest to understand here. Their child is an adult now and can handle a divorce. Obviously this man doesn’t want to spend rest of his life with her and I don’t see why she should hang on to the cheating bastard.
Maybe because granting him divorce will make it easier for him to maneuver his adulterous relationship to a more decent status like marrying his mistress. The wife probably doesn’t want to grant him that freedom.
Good Point. Actually know of a situation (told by my mother) whereby spurned wife refused divorce to prevent husband from marrying his lover. Husband quit job and moved to Costa Rica with lover. Stayed there for years; had another set of children. Wife remained home and lived in “quiet desperation”…..she was miserable. There is a time and a place whereby one has to learn to just let go and move on with your life.
Even though she could take some blame ,lets all think realistically and forget about this thing called morals because the world doesn’t have any but realistically speaking Kim didn’t make any type of loyal commitment to this guy’s wife ,he did so I don’t understand how people are putting so much of the blame on her like HE didn’t choose to leave his family ,I wish people would stop acting like men can’t think for themselves and just follow were they can get some new pussy, for goodness sake, this guy is in his late 50s but she “stole ” him for his family ? Did she tie him up and put him in her car and force him to do this ? You guys need to stop living in your utopia and get with reality and stop thinking someone owes someone else something because they’re women lol just my thoughts
Adultery is taboo…it affects people in all walks of life…people’s opinion about it is never pleasant. “Married” women and “married” men play an “equal” role for this deplorable act to come about.
Jo In Sung announced his breakup with Kim Min Hee in September 2014 and just a month later said they actually broke up 4 months ago.
She’s at fault for getting involved with a married man but she didn’t cheat on her own bf to do it.
But why is this coming out only now though? Apparently it was quite well known that she’s been living with him for a year now. Either way, she’s still over.
Poor Jo In Sung
Why poor him though? They were broken up for several months when she first hooked up with the director.
Lol always put the girl into the fire.
Teacakes and sky
Stop defending her. You are very poor at math and try to stop being clever.
To put time into perspective – so if they broke up 4 months ago then it means that when JIS and GHY was filming IOIL, they have broken up?
Don’t think much of this girl. JIS and his IOIL gang seems genuinely nice.
JJ Elle
If only Teacakes and sky can reason like you.
Thanks for the smart deductions and fair remarks.
Just read this article i didn’t know, is they having realationship after the director moving out from his house or since he still living with his wife, we never know the thruth so i won’t blame anyone, may be they have relationship after the marriage have problem n her wife didn’t want to diforce, if ii’m hrr wife i will not insist to live with a man whose doesn’t love me anymore
It doesn’t really matter whether the affair was when he moved out or not. I think what matter is that he was a married man and I think that was all the fusses are about.
Korean entertainment values honesty, innocence and “being nice” but the Yoochun news brought me the sad thought that the actors might not be as lovable as their characters. I feel like I can never re-watch Girl Who Sees Smells and never finish Sungkyunkwan Scandal. š
That’s just a whole bug lie there if people really think that the entertainment industry in general is nice and people are honest and innocent. In fact, it is the opposite as it is well known to be really dirty industry.
I agree.
I am not a fan, think Micky’s acting has improved since SKKS … but if having sex in bathrooms with sex workers floats his boats = so be it. And I enjoy DBSK’s Mirotic, and think it was a shame they broke up as a group.
The industry is dirty, and competitive (beyond looks and talent or lack of), and some pple do need to sleep their way up for favours/to get connections. Ditto for HK (how many were kept mistresses, made gd these days).
These folk aren’t lily-white, just like us plebians on the street. They fart, maybe j@ck off in private … whatever. That’s just reality. It’s just WHO gets found out doing what, and gets exposied.
The issue isn’t that Yoochun had sex with prostitutes in bathrooms, it’s that he’s accused of raping women in bathrooms. That’s by far a bigger issue. Only two of the reported victims have known connections in the “pleasure” industry, and all of the women have said that he barred the bathroom doors, not letting them out. Yes, it’s still under investigation so we don’t know the truth… but it’s not a “whatever floats your boat” situation when someone is accused of rape.
I think for international netizens, the issue is more that he’s being accused of sexual assault by 4 women, not just him having sex with sex workers in the bathroom.
For me, I don’t really care about their personal life. All I care about is whether the drama draw me in or not.
Am disgusted by the unrealistic pressure imposed on these actors makes me think Korean citizens have shallow brains ….at the end of the day ,these people are just humans and will do what is natural for any human being …just enjoy their TV chastacters and ignore their private life .How can someone say she won’t watch her movie cos she is dating a director …did you think she was a virgin?Do you know how many of the actors you ship with actresses that are actually gay?
Do you know how many actresses have rich male sponsors ….this whole gross expectations is why we keep having suicide cos of people in the public who think like they are farting …she is an actress not a reverend sister ….why should her career be over cos she dated a married man
I’m with you!
Me too! My circle of friends refer to it as the “hypocritical Korean morality”
Or how many of the actresses are gay and how many of the actors have rich women or male sponsors
Seriously. I mean there is no way that at least some of the actors and actresses are gay and they have to hide in the closet their whole lives because of the vicious Korean fans. That’s incredibly sad. I mean think of all the celebrity relationships and know that at least some of those are beards and they have no choice if they want to act for a living. Breaks my heart for them.
(Not that that is what we are talking about here because adultery isn’t a nice thing to do, but even so, it shouldn’t ruin someone’s career!)
Did she kill someone …did she molest a child? Cos she dated a man old enough to be her dad …why is no one blaming the creepy old man?
She dated an old man is okay but this is a married old man then it’s a different story . knowing how conservative the korean culture is , she and her old man cheater will have to face public criticism for long time
It’s the same thing happened when Angelina Jolie and brad Pitt dated together . even Angelina and brad Pitt career is no over but they still had to face criticism for quite long
I agree. It’s a different story when it involved a married man or woman. Also, can not just blame only the man or woman. One hand can’t clap. It needs both hands to clap.
When Jo In-Sung & Kong Hyo-Jin acted in is Ok is love.
They already break off, so Kong Hyo-Jin did not snatch her good friend’s boy friend lah! Kong Hyo-Jin Is not the 3rd party that people have been talking about !!!!!
yeah, I like that one. Hope they get together now that this stigma is gone.
This is one messy story.
Apparently Kim Min Hee had told the wife that she should have taken better care of her husband.
I find Min Hee a brilliant actress but if this is true she’s one terrible person.
Hope they both end up having repercussions and not just her.
Seems like a classic case of a man having a midlife crisis and so he takes up with a young woman to feel alive again.
Shame for the actress though, what with her work being showcase ar Cannes recently..
he look so old does he even able to have sex with her? she one sick woman for having affair with a married man.
she&PYC both career are over.
Don’t worry. She’ll take the lead.
At least it’s a proper scandal and not too adult, unattached stars simply dating. How is something like that a scandal in Korea?
It takes two to clap. Adultery is committed by two parties.
I doubt that the man is getting away with this but knowing social norms he might get away with it slightly easier as in he can probably still work without much issue. She, however, should well know that her acting career will be affected whether she likes it or not.
They knew going into the affair that there is a line that they will cross over and from which they can never go back. Assuming they were rational when they made that decision then they should take whatever is coming their way. Whatever excuse they come up with to fob off the public, well, the public shouldn’t take it too seriously. There is no point making excuses for them or criticizing them, the observer will never know the reason why they did it.
Being Koreans, they should know the backlash, it doesn’t matter who is at fault and they did it willingly and on their own accord.
The only people I pity in cases like this are the children who are truly innocent. The adults rarely are.
I agree.
Once a cheater, always a cheater. He Cheated on his wife, he will probably do it again. Karma’s a b*tch and KHS will probably regret ruining her career for this loser.
He is too old to cheat on kim min hee
Most likely she will leave him after a while and he will just continue to make silly movies
Sad story for all those involved including the children.
I do believe a lot of this is coming out because of the issue with Lotte. Other than that, both are ridiculous for even being involved in aneural affair. How shameful. I feel sorry for both of their families for having to deal with this.
I actually watched some of his movies long before this news broke out. Arthouse movies with simple camerawork and plot, quirky character, mixed with confusing metaphors or whatever. Many ppl praise his movies, I found them just okayish, not my taste.
What I found interesting is, some of his movies’ plot revolve around a quite acclaimed/idealistic movie director (married with kids) falling in love/ having affair/seducing another women (aspiring actress/his student/any woman) for example: “Nobody’s Daughter HaeWon” and “Oki’s Movie.
Even the movie with Kim Min Hee in it (which garner praises but bores me out; I’m not the elite who understand such form of art I must say) is also about a movie director who try to seduce some women in the movie..