T-ara's Jiyeon and baseball player Hwang Jae-gyun initiated the divorce process after failing to overcome their differences. Photo: Jiyeon/Instagram
Jiyeon of K-pop girl group T-ara and South Korean baseball star Hwang Jae-gyun have filed for divorce after almost two years of marriage.
South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency quoted a statement released by the South Korean singer’s legal representative on Oct 5 that the couple have filed for divorce mediation at the Seoul Family Court after agreeing to a divorce.
The statement added that the couple agreed to part ways after living separately and failing to overcome their differences.
Jiyeon, 31, and Hwang, 37, tied the knot in December 2022 after announcing their relationship on social media in February the same year. Jiyeon, whose full name is Park Ji-yeon, has since deleted their photos together on her Instagram account.
Speculation about the state of their marriage began surfacing in June 2024 when a baseball commentator suggested on radio that Hwang was getting a divorce. It was denied by Jiyeon’s agency at the time, but the rumours continued after she was seen without her wedding ring during a show on her YouTube channel in September.
Jiyeon debuted as a member of T-ara in 2009 and has starred in several TV series such as Master Of Study (2010), Dream High 2 (2012) and I Wanna Hear Your Song (2019).
Meanwhile, Hwang made his professional debut with South Korea’s KBO League in 2007 with the now-defunct Hyundai Unicorns and had a Major League Baseball stint with the San Francisco Giants in 2017. He joined KBO League’s KT Wiz in 2018 and helped the club win its first KBO title in 2021. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
