Intro for November 20, 2025

Dear Gossips,   

I ended the day yesterday with a post about the most popular celebrity couple in Korea and then a few hours later came an announcement about another Korean power couple. Shin Min-ah and Kim Woo-bin are both top actors out of Korea and have been together for ten years. They started dating in 2015 after starring in an ad campaign together, she was with him through his cancer recovery from 2017-2019. 

Today it was announced that they’re getting married, the wedding is happening on December 20, with their agency releasing the following statement:

“We would like to share some happy news about our actors Shin Min Ah and Kim Woo Bin.

Based on the deep trust they have built over their long relationship, Shin Min Ah and Kim Woo Bin promised to become each other’s lifelong partners.

Their wedding will be held privately on December 20 in Seoul with both families, relatives, and close friends in attendance.

We ask for your warm support and blessings for the couple as they make this precious life decision. Both will remain dedicated to their work as actors and will strive to repay the love you have shown them.

Thank you.”

It always kills me the difference in how it works with PR between the western and eastern entertainment systems. Over in the west, the subtext behind statements like this to announce personal news is basically – fine, we’ll tell you the least amount of detail about this thing that’s happening in our private lives, now f-ck off and leave us alone. Meanwhile, in Korea, it’s not even subtext, the whole point is gratitude. Like, please don’t be mad at us, please be happy for us, we’re getting married, here is the date, but don’t worry, we’re not retiring. 

Earlier this week Cambridge declared that its word of the year is “parasocial”, citing Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s engagement as one of the examples of parasocial behaviour, given the high public investment in their relationship. In East Asia, the parasocial is on another level, which is why idols and actors go to such great lengths to conceal their dating lives, and on occasion, in the rare circumstance where they do want to confirm their romances, the statements are worded in a way where it’s seeking approval. 

With Shin Min-ah and Kim Woo-bin, there shouldn’t be too many concerns, if any. Ten years is a long time. The parasocial works in the positive direction in this case – people have been rooting for them, this is the outcome they were hoping for. 

Now this is the wedding guest list I care most about. This is a super-famous couple who has worked with super-famous people, let it be the wedding of the year!

Yours in gossip, 

Lainey