Rumors swirled through Korean media on November 7 after reports claimed that Jiyeon, member of the legendary K-pop girl group T-ara, had divorced a famous fashion designer 17 years her senior designer Hwang Jae-keun.
The speculation began when a blogger published a post titled “The Current Situation and Fashion Style of Jiyeon (T-ara) Who Returned to the Idol Scene After Divorcing Hwang Jae-keun.” The story quickly spread across online communities, confusing fans who were unaware that Jiyeon had ever been married to the designer.
However, by the evening of November 7, Tenasia reported that designer Hwang Jae-keun personally responded to the rumors, firmly denying them with a witty statement: “When did I supposedly get married and divorced?”
It was soon revealed that the entire situation stemmed from a name mix-up. The blogger had confused Hwang Jae-keun, the fashion designer, with Hwang Jae-gyun, Jiyeon’s actual ex-husband and professional baseball player. The similarity between their names caused the misunderstanding to spiral online, though there was no truth to the rumor that Jiyeon had ever married or divorced the designer.
Jiyeon married baseball player Hwang Jae-gyun in late 2022, but the couple quietly divorced after two years. Despite the breakup, Jiyeon remains active in both music and acting, continuing to embody her image as a “timeless K-pop goddess.”
Meanwhile, Hwang Jae-keun, born in 1976, is a respected designer and graduate of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp in Belgium. He remains single and focused on his fashion career, having no connection whatsoever to the false marriage rumor.
The incident serves as another reminder of how quickly misinformation can spread online especially when celebrity names are similar and how easily netizens can mistake fiction for fact in today’s fast-paced entertainment media world.
Sources: K14