More than a year after breaking up with her fiance and fellow K-pop star Dawn, South Korean singer Hyuna may have found a new love.
The 31-year-old shared on social media on Jan 18 a photo of the back view of a man and a woman holding hands, as she wrote in Korean, “Please look at us kindly”, and included the emoji of a couple with a heart.
She tagged South Korean singer Junhyung, 34, in the post, as he shared the same photo on social media without any caption.
The duo appeared to be admitting they were dating, although some fans wondered if they were promoting a collaboration.
Hyuna’s agency At Area and Junhyung’s agency Black Made added to the mystery when they issued a statement separately on Jan 19. At Area said it was not involved in its artistes’ private matters, while Black Made said it was unable to confirm the matter.
Netizens suspected that Hyuna and Junhyung, who were former label mates at agency Cube Entertainment, may have begun dating as early as November 2023.
Online sleuths discovered a photo showing their signatures posted on the Instagram page of Seumikatsu on Nov 9, with the owner thanking the two idols for visiting the restaurant in Seoul, South Korea.
Hyuna, whose full name is Kim Hyun-ah, debuted as a member of girl group Wonder Girls in 2007 before she left in the same year. She was later part of the girl group 4Minute, which debuted in 2009 and dissolved in 2016.
In 2010, Hyuna launched her debut solo single Change, which featured Junhyung. She gained further fame when she appeared in the music video of Gangnam Style with South Korean rapper Psy in 2012.
In 2018, she acknowledged that she had been dating K-pop boy band Pentagon’s Dawn for two years, resulting in their contracts being terminated by their then agency Cube Entertainment.
Hyuna and Dawn announced their engagement in February 2022 before parting ways in November that same year. Dawn, 29, announced in October 2023 that he was beginning his military service as a social service worker.
Junhyung, whose full name is Yong Jun-hyung, rose to fame after debuting in 2009 as a member of K-pop boy band Beast, who changed their name to Highlight in 2017 after leaving their original agency Cube Entertainment.
Junhyung left the group in March 2019 after he was implicated in an illegal sex video scandal involving entertainers such as former BigBang member Seungri and singer Jung Joon-young.
Jung was accused of sharing the sex videos in a chatroom with several artistes. Junhyung admitted he had viewed footage shared by Jung and exchanged lewd text messages regarding the sex videos.
Junhyung enlisted in the military in April 2019 and was discharged from service in February 2021. He made a music comeback by releasing his solo EP, Loner, in November 2022. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
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