Star couple Song Joong-ki, Song Hye-kyo to wed on Oct. 31

The onscreen couple of KBS hit drama series “Descendants of the Sun” will soon be married in real life.

Early on Wednesday, Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo announced plans to wed on Oct. 31, through a joint statement issued by their management agencies. 

The two had repeatedly denied rumors they were in a relationship even up until Tuesday evening, when a local media outlet requested confirmation as to whether the two stars were a couple. The agencies flatly denied the rumors and called them absurd, according to the media outlet. 

However, the following day, Blossom Entertainment and UAA, Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo’s agencies, respectively, issued a joint statement confirming the relationship rumors.

“Since marriage is also between families -- as well as between individuals -- they had to be careful. The two had to be cautious (about their relationship) until it bore fruit in matrimony,” the statement read.

The agencies added that nothing had been decided about the wedding, including the venue. 

The stars played a couple on “Descendants of the Sun,” with Song Joong-ki playing a heartthrob military captain and his future bride taking on the role of a doctor, as well as his love interest. 

They shared the grand prize at the KBS Drama Awards last year, as well as the award for best couple. They also won prizes at the Baeksang Arts Awards held in June last year.

Speculations the two were dating surfaced after the series ended, fueled by reports of the two being seen together in New York in March last year. They said it was mere coincidence, but other reports of the couple being seen together in Bali, Indonesia, popped up in June this year. However, they once again called the reports groundless and claimed they had not even crossed paths in Bali.

Song Joong-ki, 31, made his debut on the big screen in 2008 with “A Frozen Flower.” He shot to stardom in 2010 through KBS2’s period drama series “Sungkyunkwan Scandal,” in which he played a rich but indolent 18th-century playboy. Song also starred in fantasy-romance film “A Werewolf Boy” in 2012, but it was not until he hit the jackpot with “Descendants of the Sun” last year that he became a global star.

The series, from which Song is estimated to have made 960 million won ($834,760), was the actor’s first project after being discharged from his mandatory military service in May 2015. A report in April 2016 said Song had shot nearly 30 commercials in Korea and China since the airing of “Descendants of the Sun.”

In January, the actor reportedly bought a house in a posh neighborhood of Itaewon, Seoul. The house he bought for 10 billion won is speculated to be the couple’s new home.

Song Joong-ki’s latest film “The Battleship Island,” about forced labor during Korea’s Japanese colonial period, is set to hit local theaters on July 26. He recently was offered a role in “Kingdom,” an eight-episode zombie series to be streamed via Netflix.

Song Hye-kyo, three years her partner’s senior, debuted in 1996 as a model before expanding her career into acting. She was an established Hallyu star even before “Descendants of the Sun,” having played lead roles in hit drama series such as “Autumn in My Heart” in 2000, “All In” in 2003, “Full House” in 2004 and “That Winter, the Wind Blows” in 2013.

Song also has a reputation for becoming romantically involved with her co-stars. She dated Lee Byung-hun from “All In” and Hyun Bin from “The World That They Live In.” 

Song Hye-kyo was recently offered a role in an upcoming historical film that centers on Korean women forced into sex slavery by the Japanese military during World War II. 

By Hong Dam-young (lotus@heraldcorp.com)