A growing number of Korean stars find their real soul mates while playing a fictional couple for TV programs. One high-profile example is Lee Dong-gun and Cho Youn-hee. They played a couple in the recent TV series “The Gentlemen of Wolgyesu Tailor Shop,” and confirmed they are dating on Tuesday.

(Herald DB)

Fans of TV series often demand a fictional couple in a drama to become a real-life couple. KBS2 TV series “Descendants of the Sun” fans wanted Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo to date in real life. There was even a survey published by online research company PMI. The survey reflected fans hope of the main characters dating in real life. This kind of excessive attention can make it hard for celebrities to start a relationship. Below is a list of real couples who overcame this difficulty.

(Ki Tae-young’s instagram)

Eugene and Ki Tae-young
Eugene and Ki Tae-young met through the MBC TV series “Creating Destiny” in 2009. Tae-young said during an interview with Arirang TV that he did not have much chance to talk to Eugene when they were filming. He said it was almost at the end of the drama that they got closer. The couple got married July 23, 2011 and have a daughter Kim Ro-hee.

(Ahn Jae-hyeon’s instagram)

Ku Hye-sun and Ahn Jae-hyun
Ku Hye-sun and Ahn Jae-hyun met on a KBS2 TV series “Blood” in 2015. Instead of spending their money on a wedding ceremony, they donated the expense to a children’s hospital. The couple appears on TVN variety show “Newlywed Diary.” Jae-hyun decided to be on the show because he wanted to have video of them spending time together.

(Joo Jin-mo‘s weibo)

Joo Jin-mo and Zhang Li
Joo Jin-mo and Chinese actress Zhang Li met while filming Chinese drama “Honey, I am Sorry.” They first denied that they were dating in July, 2016. After being spotted dating in Japan, they admitted that they are officially a couple on Joo Jin-mo‘s Weibo on Feb. 15, 2017. They said they got closer when Li visited Korea.

(Singles Wedding)

So Yi-hyun and In Gyo-jin
So Yi-hyun and In Gyo-jin filmed three different TV series. They first met when So Yi-hyun was a highschool student. They started working together on the SBS TV series “Fairy and Swindler” in 2003. They met again in 2008 on the SBS TV series “Aeja‘s Older Sister, Minja.” Their last TV series was “Happy Ending” in 2012. On the KBS2 variety show “Happy Together” Gyo-jin mentioned that he asked Yi-hyun out several times while working. Yi-hyun at first took it as a joke. “It was probably because we have been friends too long.” said Gyo-jin.

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)