Actor and singer Park Soo-jin / Captured from Park Soo-jin's social media

Actor Park Soo-jin, a former idol with the girl group Sugar and the wife of actor Bae Yong-joon, has left her agency, KeyEast Entertainment, fanning rumors of her retirement from the entertainment industry.

"Park Soo-jin is no longer under contract with us. In fact, her exclusive contract was terminated some time ago as she has not been active in the entertainment field for several years," an official from KeyEast Entertainment said Wednesday.

Park has been mostly inactive since a photoshoot in 2021, with no follow-up projects. Both Park and her husband Bae Yong-joon were enveloped in retirement rumors in 2022 when Bae's official website, which had been running for nearly 20 years, was put up for sale, suggesting that he had no intention of continuing his career in entertainment.

At that time, responses from Park's agency were non-committal, merely stating that they had "no knowledge" of such plans.

However, a source close to the couple said, "Their move to Hawaii was tantamount to retirement."

In January, Park posted an update on social media, which she quickly removed. Bae's last known activity in the entertainment industry was a cameo in the 2011 drama "Dream High 2."

They initially met when Bae was the CEO of KeyEast Entertainment, and Park was one of the agency's actors. They got married in 2015 and have since relocated to Hawaii.

Bae is best known for his role in the 2002 hit drama "Winter Sonata," which heralded the beginning of the Korean Wave across Asia.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, sister publication of The Korea Times, was translated by a generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.