Marrying a wealthy spouse is a classic happily-ever-after trope in K-Dramas. But for some Korean actresses, this fantasy becomes a reality. Let’s take a look at a few who have married into super-rich lifestyles.
Jun Ji Hyun & Alpha Asset Management’s CEO Choi Joon Hyuk
Jun Ji Hyun‘s husband is Choi Joon Hyuk, the CEO of Alpha Asset Management. The two got married in 2012 and currently have two sons. CEO Choi’s father is Choi Kon, the founder of Alpha Asset Management, his mother is fashion designer Lee Jung Woo, and his grandmother is world-renowned hanbok designer Lee Young Hee. His younger brother is Choi Jun Ho, a member of idol dance group X-Large, and his younger brother’s wife is the only daughter of Hong Leong Group, Singapore’s top conglomerate.
After graduating from college, Choi joined Bank of America and then joined his father’s company, Alpha Asset Management, as vice president in 2019. A year later, in 2020, he received a 70% stake in the company from his father and was appointed CEO. Alpha Asset Management managed a total of 470 billion won ($339 million) in assets as of 2020. The dress and tiara that Jun Ji Hyun wore when she got married in 2012 were the talk of the town. The dress was reportedly priced at 80 million won ($57,481), and the tiara at 2 billion won ($1.4 million).
Soo Hyun & DNK’s co-founder and CEO Cha Min Geun
Soo Hyun, also known as Claudia Kim, married businessman Cha Min Geun in 2019. Cha Min Geun studied computer engineering at a state university in New Jersey and worked as a programmer at the US branch of Mercedes-Benz. It was also revealed that he was working as the Korean representative of the coworking space company WeWork at the time of his marriage to Claudia Kim. Currently, Cha is actively operating an online real estate brokerage and has secured 9.1 billion won ($6.6 million) in investment. The two, who first met while volunteering, have been friends for a long time and later became lovers. Claudia expressed her special affection for her husband, saying she admires his good social skills.
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Park Ji Yoon & Former Kakao’s CEO Cho Soo Yong
Park Ji Yoon is married to Cho Soo Yong, the former CEO of Kakao, and they have a daughter together. After leading design and advertising businesses at Naver, Cho joined Kakao in 2016 and took charge of major service businesses including Kakao Bank and Kakao T. He was appointed Kakao co-CEO in March 2018. Cho’s annual salary in 2022 reached 35.74 billion won ($25.8 million), surpassing CJ Group Chairman Lee Jae Hyun and Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong Bin’s annual income to become the “highest-paid businessman” in Korea.
Go Hyun Jung & Chairman of Shinsegae Group, Chung Yong Jin
Go Hyun Jung married Chung Yong Jin, then vice chairman of Shinsegae, on May 24, 1995. Chung Yong Jin’s father is Chung Jae Eun, chairman of the Josun Hotel chain, and his mother is Lee Myung Hee, former chairman of Shinsegae Group and the fifth daughter of the late Samsung Group chairman Lee Byung Chul. The marriage of the two made headlines all across the country as Go Hyun Jung was at the peak of her acting career as the lead actress of drama Sandglass. Together they had one son and one daughter, but they agreed to divorce in 2003 after eight years and six months of marriage.
The reason for the divorce between the two is said to be personality differences. Custody of the children went to Chung, and Go received 1.5 billion won ($1 million) in alimony. During this process, there were rumors that Chung gave Go a Starbucks coffee shop in Insadong, Seoul, worth 4 billion won ($2.9 million) at the time, as alimony. However, Shinsegae’s side dismissed the rumors, saying, “Starbucks Korea directly manages Starbucks’ domestic stores and ownership of one store cannot be transferred to individuals.” Some people speculated that the cause of the divorce was due to Go Hyun Jung’s feud with her mother-in-law, Chairman Lee Myung Hee.
Park Shin Yang & Baek Hae Jin, granddaughter of the founder of Häagen-Dazs Korea and Sharp Aviation K
Häagen-Dazs Korea is also famous for being a company run by the in-laws of actor Park Shin Yang. Park’s wife, Baek Hae Jin, is the granddaughter of the late Chairman Baek Jong Geun, the founder of Häagen-Dazs Korea and the aviation service provider Sharp Aviation K. The two got married in 2002 and have one daughter together. Park and his wife overcame a 13-year age difference to get married, and Park revealed that he fell in love with Baek at first sight when he saw her at the gym of a hotel in Busan. Meanwhile, it is known that the combined sales of Häagen-Dazs Korea and Sharp Aviation K reached 170 billion won ($123 million) as of 2022.
Other notable couples include So Yoo Jin, who is married to Baek Dong Won, a leading figure in the Korean restaurant industry; Lee Si Young, who is married to Jo Seung Hyun, another notable figure in the industry known as “little Baek Jong Won”; Noh Hyun Jung, who is married to Jung Dae Sun, the largest shareholder of HN Inc. and a member of the Hyundai family; Kim Hee Ae, who is married to Lee Chan Jin, the founder of Hancom and former CEO of Fortis; Shim Eun Ha, who is married to Ji Sang Wook, chairman of Hanseong Enterprise and a former politician in the conservative Bareun Party; Park Joo Mi, who is married to Lee Jang Won, known as the only son of Lee Jong Taek, CEO of leather company Kwang Sung High Tech; and Lee Hye Young, who is married to Boo Jae Hoon, a founding member and CEO of MBK Partners.
