Song Hye-kyo Soaring High vs. Kim Min-hee’s Fall: Where Did It All Go Wrong?

Song Hye-kyo and Kim Min-hee debuted around the same time, establishing themselves as everyman’s ideal. Even in 2025, they continue to dominate entertainment headlines, but public opinion about them couldn’t be more different. This is the story of Song Hye-kyo, who is reaching new career heights. It is also the story of Kim Min-hee, who is entangled in scandal over an extramarital affair.

Parallel Beginnings in the 1990s

Song Hye-kyo and Kim Min-hee both entered the entertainment industry in the late 1990s as CF models. Early in their careers, they were beloved for their fresh and lively personas. Both began acting while still in high school.

Career Milestones and Contrasting Choices

Song Hye-kyo rose to prominence through the sitcom “Sungpung Clinic,” followed by a string of successful romance dramas, including “Autumn in My Heart,” “All In,” “Full House,” “Worlds Inside,” “That Winter, the Wind Blows,” and “Descendants of the Sun.” She cemented her reputation as a queen of romance dramas. On the other hand, Kim Min-hee started as the lead in “School 2” and appeared in various projects but struggled with criticism of her acting. Films like “Helpless” and “Temperature of Love” marked turning points in her career, and she reached her peak as an actress with Park Chan-wook’s T”he Handmaiden.”

The year 2016 brought great success to both actresses, with “Descendants of the Sun” and “The Handmaiden.” However, their fates diverged in 2017. Song Hye-kyo got married with Song Joong-ki. In contrast, Kim Min-hee publicly acknowledged her affair with director Hong Sang-soo, marking a turning point in their lives.

Legacies Defined by Success and Controversy

After experiencing the personal pain of divorce, Song Hye-kyo presented a completely different side of herself to the public. In the 2022 Netflix series “The Glory,” she delivered a chilling catharsis as Moon Dong-eun, a woman seeking revenge against school bullies. The series topped Netflix’s global charts and earned Song Hye-kyo numerous accolades, including the Best Actress award at the Baeksang Arts Awards and the Grand Prize at the Blue Dragon Series Awards.

Having tasted the appeal of genre dramas, Song Hye-kyo chose the occult film “Black Nuns” as her next project. The film, a spinoff of the 2015 movie “The Priests,” tells the story of people performing forbidden rituals to save a boy possessed by a powerful demon.

Ahead of the film’s release, Song Hye-kyo shared behind-the-scenes moments through variety show program and appeared on other platforms. By shedding her enigmatic image, she won over the MZ generation. She ranked first in non-drama cast buzzworthiness in the second week of January, resonating across generations.

Meanwhile, Kim Min-hee has spent nine years with the label of an adulterer, dedicating herself solely to appearing in and producing Hong Sang-soo’s works. Since their collaboration on the 2015 film “Right Now, Wrong Then,” they’ve worked together on 14 films. In 2017, Kim Min-hee won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the Berlin International Film Festival for “On the Beach at Night Alone” and received the Best Actress award at the Gijón International Film Festival the same year. The New York Times also named her one of the 25 greatest actors of the 21st century in 2020. In 2024, she earned the Best Actress award at the Locarno Film Festival and Gijón for The Novelist’s Film.

However, even these moments of glory have been overshadowed by her personal scandals. Since admitting her affair in 2017, she has avoided public appearances, with fans lamenting her prime years spent in Hong Sang-soo’s world. While some hoped for her return to the industry, recent reports revealed she is six months pregnant.

Hong Sang-soo’s divorce case was dismissed in 2016, leaving him legally married, making their child illegitimate. The situation has sparked debate over inheritance and family matters, leaving Kim Min-hee’s once-admired name mired in controversy.