From Sung Joon to Cool’s Lee Jae-hoon, K-pop stars are opening up about their personal lives. Here’s why

While such idols were once worried their popularity would drop once they announced their love lives, fans want to see a more personal side these days

The likes of BTS have harnessed social media on their path to global superstardom, and others now see the merits of deeper connections with fans

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Model-turned-actor Sung Joon this year revealed that he married his pregnant girlfriend before his military service in 2018. Photo: @thuggyduck/Instagram

Published: 7:00pm, 16 Feb 2020Updated: 10:01pm, 16 Feb 2020

This year started with a series of surprise announcements in South Korea’s entertainment industry.

On January 2, Kim Hee-chul from K-pop act Super Junior and Momo from Twice admitted they had been dating for two years. February saw Lee Jae-hoon of the group Cool admit that he had been married for a decade and had two children.

That same month, model-turned-actor Sung Joon revealed that he had married his pregnant girlfriend before his military service in 2018. Chen from boy band Exo had a similar situation earlier this year when he announced his upcoming wedding to his pregnant girlfriend.

In Chen’s case, while there were disappointed fans calling for his dismissal from the band, there seemed to be a bigger push to support his decision to share his personal life with the public.

“I started to cry when I read his letter on social media, but I started to think about his happiness and the fact that I can’t control his life and never will,” said Peki Chhakchhuak, an 18-year-old fan from India.

While South Korea’s stars and their management agencies are still leery of fierce pushback from fans, the private lives of celebrities have increasingly become harder to separate from their public personas, while exchanges with fans have become the norm on social media.