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On September 28, Korean media outlet Dispatch broke the news of Korean actress Park Min-young dating a businessman named Kang Jong-hyun.
According to Dispatch, Chairman Kang Jong-hyun’s company Vidente is the largest shareholder of Bithumb Holdings, South Korea’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange platform. He is also connected to Chorokbaem Media, which has acquired Park Min-young’s current management Hook Entertainment.
When fans found out that the two have been dating for a long time, many expressed their disappointment that the guy in question was not Park Seo-joon. This stems from the latter's much-loved pairing with Park Min-young in the 2018 rom-com K-drama What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim.
Their on-screen chemistry even led K-drama fans to label them the “Park-Park couple”. Now that the dreams of the two actors getting together for real seem unlikely, fans have taken to social media to express their disappointment.
What we know about Park Min-young's current relationship
On September 28, Dispatch revealed that they had been following Kang Jong-hyun for over two months and that is how they found out about his secret relationship with Love in Contract actress Park Min-young.
Kang Jong-hyun, 40, is a wealthy businessman who is the chairman of multiple companies, key among them being Vidente and Bithumb Holdings.
It was revealed that the actress spends a lot of time at the Chairman’s private villa in Hannam-dong - an affluent neighborhood in Seoul - and sometimes commutes to work from his residence.
Dispatch also revealed that Jong-hyun was the reason why Min-young signed with Hook Entertainment on December 30, 2021, just one day after leaving Namoo Actors.
It is also believed that their respective families are aware of this relationship.
In the report, Dispatch raised concerns about Kang Jong-hyun operating under a different name, considering that none of his many luxury cars and villas are registered under his own name.
The publication further reported that when they called Vidente, representatives there denied having a chairman by the name of Kang Jong-hyun.
Twitterati is heartbroken over Park Min-young's recent dating rumors
Fans took to social media to react to the actress' new dating rumors with Kang Jong-hyun.
Check out some of the reactions below:
Park Min-young has previously addressed her link-up rumors with co-star Park Seo-joon
In light of her recent dating news, K-drama fans have dug up the actress' past dating rumors with What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim co-star Park Seo-joon.
In the K-drama, Park Seo-joon plays a self-obsessed Vice-President Lee Young-joon who falls in love with his personal secretary Kim Mi-so while they pursue a secret office romance away from their colleagues’ prying eyes.
Their chemistry was so convincing and natural that fans monikered them the “Park-Park” couple and even shipped them.
It was reported back then that the co-stars were in a secret relationship and have been on dates in private. The speculations were quickly dismissed by their respective agencies and Park Seo-joon himself.
In an interview following the denial, Park Min-young also revealed that she did try to date in secret once, but the person in question was not her What's Wrong With Secretary Kim co-star. She said:
“I tried having secret relationships but it was not with Park Seo-joon.”
She reiterated that they have never met outside of work, and don’t use “couple items” as reported by some media outlets.
Hook Entertainment issues a response to the ongoing dating rumors
Park Min-young’s agency Hook Entertainment has finally broken their silence on the dating rumors.
In their official statement, the agency said that the actress is currently busy filming her drama Love in Contract and is therefore unavailable for verification regarding the dating rumors.
“We ask for your understanding in not being able to relay an exact statement quickly.”
Min-young is currently starring in the K-drama Love in Contract opposite Go Kyung-pyo and Kim Jae-young.
