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| Hyun Bin, right, and Son Ye-jin deny rumors they are dating. CJ Entertainment |
Mega stars' reactions to dating rumors have some parallels
By Kang Aa-young
The way two mega stars ― Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin ― have reacted to the rumors they are dating has some parallels with the "Song-Song couple" referring to Song Hye-kyo and Song Joong-ki who stunned the nation in October 2017 with their surprise marriage announcement.
On Jan. 10, photos featuring the celebrities together abroad popped up online and circulated quickly with speculation they were dating. The two were quick to deny the rumors and insisted they "happened" to be there together.
Once additional photos or other convincing pieces of evidence are suggested, they partially admitted they were there together but it was not prearranged. Their encounter there was accidental, their agencies said.
It remains to be seen is if Hyun and Son are going to follow the steps taken by the Song-Song couple. The two Songs stunned the nation after announcing their marriage plans following their previous repeated denials of their dating.
The A-list actors Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin worked together in the 2018 film "The Negotiation." Rumors of the two dating spread online as an unnamed internet user posted photos showing them together in the United States. Immediately, their agencies denied the rumors and claimed they were not in the United States.
Days after their denial, another sets of photos circulated online. In those photos, the two celebrities were grocery shopping. Hyun Bin is seenpushing a cart and Son is behind him checking items. As pieces of evidence that are hard to refute pop up, their agencies admitted they were in the United States but for different purposes.
Hyun's agency said he went there on a business trip, whereas Son's agency claimed she was traveling. According to their agencies, the two celebrities "happened to know they were in the same city in the United States and got together for a meal." But their agencies still denied the two were an item.
"They are close and as far as we know they just met for a catch-up," Hyun's VAST Entertainment agency told local news agency.
MS Team Entertainment, Son's agency, also issued a similar statement.
"They hung out there with their friends who were also at the grocery store. They are not dating," it read.
In the crime thriller "The Negotiation," Son's character Ha Chae-yoon works for the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's "crisis negotiation team." Ha negotiates with hostage-takers who kidnapped two people. The film sold 1 million tickets in its first week in Korea.
The similarities between the rumors and the photos have echoes of the rumors of the now-married couple Song Hye-kyo and Song Joong-ki who drew excessive attention from fans at home and abroad. The two co-starred in the 2016 hit TV series "Descendants of the Sun" which aired on KBS.
The two Songs were captured in photos grocery shopping in New York which circulated rapidly online. But they denied they were a couple.
Their agencies said Song Hye-kyo took a vacation in New York and accidentally met Song Joong-ki there. Their encounter was a coincidence, they insisted at that time.
"There is no reason to take it seriously," Song Hye-kyo's agency, UAA Korea told reporters, saying the two are "good colleagues" who have worked together.
The 16-episode drama "Descendants of the Sun" tells a love story between an army captain and a doctor who are on a humanitarian mission together in a fictional war-torn country called Uruk.
The drama was Song Joong-ki's first TV work since he completed his military duty. It has enjoyed tremendous popularity since premiering last February simultaneously here and in China.
The popularity of actor Song Joong-ki was phenomenal at that time, especially in China as he won the list of the most popular celebrities in a Chinese survey, overtaking Lee Min-ho's place.
Experts say the marriage of an A-lister couple is like a "double-edged sword."
"Both of them are hugely popular. They must be careful to keep their current position," culture critic Ha Jae-keun said. "But as the Song-Song couple showed, there is a new market that could be created, if two stars getting married, which could be a plus to both of their careers."
