Three 'surprises' Song-Song couple share
Song Joong-ki, second from left, and Song Hye-kyo, far right, hosts KBS’s “Show! Music Bank.”
By Ko Dong-hwan
Graduation photos of Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo
When an unexpected coincidence is witnessed, the natural reaction is a stronger belief in something previously doubted. Some Koreans have tried to make this sound fancy by calling it “cases of parallel theory.”
When Korean actress Song Hye-kyo and actor Song Joong-ki announced Wednesday they will marry in October, the news was convincing but hardly predictable.
Even when Chinese online outlet SINA spread reports from netizens who said they saw the couple from the 2016 KBS TV drama “Descendants of the Sun” in Bali in June, the stars denied they were dating.
Wednesday’s abrupt announcement from the “Song-Song” couple, without previously admitting their relationship, has been somewhat of a blow to fans. They have missed out on the chance to check which restaurants, local streets or boutiques the stars visited if their romance was made public.
But thanks to the stars’ substantial show business careers in Korea that together span 30 years, fans can go to the archives to see the surprising facts the two share. The cases of parallel theory thus existed, making the news sound more persuasive and probably explaining why the couple chose not to tell people they were dating in the first place.
Both were well-known cuties in their alma maters. Song Hye-kyo’s graduation photo from Eunkwang Girls’ High School in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, and Song Joong-ki’s picture with a graduation cap from Sungkyunkwan University went viral, prompting viewers to envy the stars’ looks.
Next, both were promising winter sports athletes before going into show business. Joong-ki was a short-track skater from the time he was a first-grade elementary school student. He even represented Daejeon three times in the national athletic competition. The career ended during second grade in middle school when he injured an ankle. His lover, on the other hand, was a figure skater until she debuted as an actress in 1996.
Another professional career the couple share: they both helmed KBS’s “Show! Music Bank,” one of Korea’s hottest K-pop chart shows. The post is only given to leading celebrities who possess the charm to attract rowdy teenagers and hippy young adults in their early 20s.