Ryu Joon-yeol (left) and Han So-hee (Screen captures from social media)
South Korean actors Han So-hee and Ryu Joon-yeol have decided to “go their own ways” after two tumultuous weeks surrounding the stars’ admissions of dating and accusations of impropriety in Ryu dating Han so soon after his breakup from his longtime partner, singer and actor Hyeri.
Ryu and Han’s breakup surfaced Saturday night when Han uploaded a 2001 photo of Nicole Kidman that had been taken by paparazzi as she walked out of the court following her divorce from Tom Cruise. The photo has popularly been used to express feelings of freedom and liberation after ending a relationship.
Han So-hee posts a 2001 photo of an exuberant Nicole Kidman following her divorce from Tom Cruise, via her blog Saturday night. (Han So-hee blog)
Ryu’s agency C-JeS Studio shortly after confirmed “the two have separated.”
Han’s agency, 9ato Entertainment, commented to a local media outlet that the two ended their relationship after they “realized that their roles as actors were larger than simply exhausting emotions between the two.”
“They promised not to waste energy and emotions on personal stories,” the agency said in explaining the reason behind the breakup.
Han’s agency also apologized for “not being able to take care of the artist well,” admitting that Han’s way of communication had been “wrong.”
On March 16, Han wrote on her blog that she had started dating Ryu in early 2024 after he had ended his relationship with Hyeri in 2023. The blog post was just a few days after the new lovebirds were spotted at a hotel in Hawaii together.
But news reports surfaced that the two had been acquainted since November last year, around the same time Ryu was reported to have ended his seven-year relationship with Hyeri, igniting rumors that Ryu may have “transferred” to Han from Hyeri. A "transfer" in terms of dating is used in Korean to describe one moving from one romantic partner to another with no or minimal time between the two relationships, likening the act to switching subway lines or buses on one's daily commute.
As accusations grew around Ryu and Han, Han stepped in to actively defend herself and Ryu, saying in a social media post that she’s “not a person who likes someone with a girlfriend, or allows him to like (her) while being a ‘friend,’ or becomes interested and gives meaning to a relationship with someone with a girlfriend.”
Han added that she doesn’t “interfere” with other couple’s relationships, although she is a fan of the TV program “Exchange” -- referring to the reality dating show where former couples live in the same house and decide whether they want to get back together or move in with new people.
This led Hyeri to officially release a statement that she had not met Ryu again after November – the month in which Han insisted that Ryu and Hyeri broke up. But Hyeri did not specify the time of her split from Ryu. The post has since been removed.
Meanwhile, Ryu and Han were recently linked to possible participation in director Han Jae-rim’s new project, “Delusion,” an adaptation of a famous webtoon of the same title.
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