Bae Yong-joon & Park Soo-jin Face Divorce Rumors Despite Recent Status in Hawaii?
Divorce Rumors
On the afternoon of February 17, media outlet Segye reported that Bae Yong-joon was caught up in rumors of divorcing his wife, actress Park Soo-jin, officially ending their decade-long marriage. According to sources, speculation arose after it was confirmed that Park Soo-jin had terminated her exclusive contract with Keyeast, the agency founded by Bae Yong-joon.
Later that same afternoon, the article reporting the divorce speculation quickly shot to the top of Nate (a popular Korean portal site)’s trending search list.
However, in reality, Park Soo-jin’s departure from Keyeast had already been confirmed by the agency and reported by Korean media back in April of last year, not recently. Furthermore, at the time of her exit, there were no rumors of marital issues between her and Bae Yong-joon.
In particular, previously on April 17th, 2024, an official from Keyeast said to XportsNews, “We do not have any exclusive contract with Park Soo-jin at the moment. In fact, her contract with Keyeast has already been terminated a long time ago as she did not carry out any entertainment activities for several years”.
It remains unclear why Park Soo-jin’s departure from Keyeast resurfaced today, sparking widespread rumors of her alleged divorce.
Latest Status in Hawaii
Bae Yong-joon and Park Soo-jin were recently revealed on a list of donors released by a private school in Hawaii.
In particular, the two actors were listed as donors to Hawaii’s Iolani School, giving between 10,000 and 249,990 USD. This is a prestigious private school in Hawaii, with 2,200 students from kindergarten to 12th grade. The school releases a list of donors every year as a way to express gratitude to donors.
News of Bae Yong-joon and Park Soo-jin’s move to Hawaii was reported several years ago, but this is the first time their names have been directly revealed in Hawaii.
Regarding this new, foreign netizens left comments such as, “Compared to the wealth of Bae Yong-joon and Park Soo-jin, this is a small and frugal donation amount. The donation amount will increase as the child goes up in grade level,” and explained, “You can send your child to a private school without donating, but America is a place where donation culture is commonplace, like tipping culture.”
Special Love for Children
Bae Yong-joon and Park Soo-jin’s son turned 9 this year, and their daughter turned 7.
The couple’s love for their children is special. In particular, when their first son was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit, there was even controversy over preferential treatment.
In particular, after giving birth to her first child in 2016, Park Soo-jin was embroiled in suspicions of having a manager accompany her into the neonatal intensive care unit, bringing in food, and stealing incubators. At the time, some criticized her for receiving special treatment as a celebrity, but Park Soo-jin clarified, “I never had a manager accompany me into the intensive care unit or bring in food.”
The last broadcasting activity of Park Soo-jin, who was a member of the agency Keyeast founded by Bae Young-joon, is a program on Olive channel in 2016.
When giving birth to her second child in 2018, Park Soo-jin faced a backlash for cutting in line at the NICU at a hospital in Seoul and ended up releasing a handwritten apology, saying “I made a misjudgment because of my child’s premature birth”.
Later, Park Soo-jin stopped her activities. She unveiled her whereabouts on SNS in 2020 and 2021 but did not resume entertainment activities. In January this year, she posted photos of some painted artworks but quickly deleted them. Since then she has not communicated with the public online.
News that Park Soo-jin moved to Hawaii with her family emerged in 2022. In January last year, she reportedly spent the end of the year in Korea with the children and then returned to Hawaii. Her husband Bae Yong-joon has also stopped using SNS since 2017. Rumors of his retirement also emerged as his official website was found to have expired in November 2022. The actor has not appeared in any acting project since KBS 2TV’s “Dream High” in 2011.
After Keyeast sold its stakes to SM Entertainment in 2018 and Bae Yong-joon’s official website closed down in 2022, netizens have been speculating that both Bae Yong-joon and Park Soo-jin are taking steps to completely retire from the Korean entertainment industry.