Did you know, Yoo Yeon-seok and Kim Ji-won, two of South Korea’s most successful celebrities, have been dating for a decade? While their management agencies have repeatedly termed the duo as “good friends”, netizens and K-media remain sceptical. So, here’s a look at the rumoured relationship timeline of Yoo Yeon-seok and Kim Ji-won.
Starting his career as a theatre actor, Yoo featured in various plays like In The Burning Darkness and The Good Person of Szechwan. His portfolio boasts some of the highest-rated K-dramas such as Reply 1994 (2013), Dr. Romantic (2016) and When the Phone Rings (2024).
Meanwhile, Kim’s entertainment journey began with singer Younha’s music video for “Gossip Boy”. Her acting career is defined by some of the best and most critically acclaimed titles. These include hits like Fight for My Way (2017), Arthdal Chronicles (2019), Lovestruck in the City (2020), My Liberation Notes (2022) and Queen of Tears (2024).
Know the complete timeline of events that sparked the relationship rumours between Yoo Yeon-seok and Kim Ji-won
It all starts with Horror Stories
Yoo Yeon-seok and Kim Ji-won first met on the sets of their 2012 movie Horror Stories where Yoo played the role of a serial killer and Kim was cast as a kidnapped high schooler.
Despite all the scrutiny over their age gap, Yoo and Kim managed to become close friends off-screen.
Yoo Yeon-seok and Kim Ji-won get swept up in dating rumours
Three years after their first on-screen appearance, Yoo and Kim got entangled in a series of linkups.
According to multiple K-media outlets including allkpop, their dating rumour first began on 21 September 2015, when Korean magazine Woman Sense reported, “Yoo Yeon-seok and Kim Ji-won are dating despite their 8-year age difference.”
The magazine further added that the duo “are seen together at gatherings with acquaintances and do not hide their expressions of affection in front of others, making people around them envious.”
However, the two celebrities’ agency King Kong by Starship brushed off the rumours calling the duo “good friends”.
Yoo and Kim spotted enjoying quality time together
In March 2016, media outlet Sports Chosun reported that Yoo and Kim were very much dating and the two were even spotted enjoying quality time with each other.
The duo reportedly went to eat at a lamb skewer restaurant in Cheongdam (Gangnam) and reporters spotted them feeding each other. After dinner, Yoo drove Kim home in his car.
Their management company denied the rumour once again and shared that the two went out to eat as friends.
Break-up rumours start spreading
In 2019, rumours suggesting Yoo Yeon-seok and Kim Ji-won had broken up started grabbing headlines after the latter was swept up in dating speculations with actor Park Seo-joon.
Park was Kim’s co-star in the 2017 romantic K-drama Fight for My Way.
Are they really over?
According to Kdramastars, soon after their break-up speculations, media outlet DC Inside reported that a netizen had spotted Yoo and Kim together and that they were still dating.
Meanwhile, multiple fan accounts discovered an anonymous account on a Korean online forum that claimed they, too, had seen Yoo and Kim together on a date in 2022.
Dating rumours resurface after When the Phone Rings
With the release of his 2024 Netflix Korean series When the Phone Rings, Yoo became the talk of K-town and was soon linked to his co-star Chae Soo-bin.
However, in 2025, rumours about Yoo and Kim’s decade-old relationship resurfaced when the former, while promoting his show, denied speculations of being romantically involved with Chae.
On 6 January 2025, Yoo’s agency shared an interview in which he termed his chemistry with Chae as “pure acting”.
The Korean actor said, “While our drama has thriller elements, it’s ultimately a love story. We hoped viewers would be drawn to Sa Eon and Hee Joo’s journey, and seeing those supportive comments makes me feel like we achieved that. But no, we’re not dating in real life.”
Following this, netizens were quick to assert that since Yoo personally denied his link-up with Chae, the actor must still be dating Kim.
Fans further pointed out that Yoo has never denied his relationship with Kim personally. But with Chae, he was quick to set the record straight.
While all of these claims remain unverified, Yoo has stated multiple times that he doesn’t want to date publicly. According to fans, this further increases the possibility of him being in a secret relationship with Kim Ji-won.
(Hero and featured image credit: Yoo Yeon-seok/Instagram/Kim Ji-won/Instagram)
The information in this article is accurate as of the date of publication.
