Although K-drama fans are always on the lookout for news about new couples, the year 2024 has brought us several broken marriages, along with some plain ugly divorces.

Hwang Jung Eum

Hwang Jung Eum experienced a contentious divorce earlier in 2024.

She married pro golfer and entrepreneur Lee Young Don in 2016 and had their first son a year later.

The couple split before 2020 but managed to patch things up and have another child after that.

Yet it appears the issues weren't fixed, as Jung Eum refiled for divorce in February 2024.

She implied the fact that Young Don was having an extramarital affair, and she sought the return of over $660,000 she had lent him.

In the midst of the divorce spiral, Jung Eum began dating basketballer Kim Jong Kyu, but received huge backlash from fans who thought it was way too soon for her to move on.

This soon led to their breakup, and Jung Um is currently still going through the divorce proceedings.

Seo Yuri

Seo Yuri is a TV personality and voice actress who has also starred in a handful of dramas and movies, the most notable being the film "The Woman Upstairs" in 2014.

In 2019, she married drama producer-director Choy Byung Gil, who is 8 years her senior, and they seemed to be doing fairly well.

But back in March, Yuri made the shocking announcement that her marriage was over; she was divorcing.

In fact, she admitted that she felt relieved and gleeful about the divorce, and the explanation she gave for the divorce was, "I did not receive any love.

I felt I wasn't being acknowledged as a woman." The rest of the story trickled out over the next several months, and it was worse than fans had feared.

Yuri reflected on how her marriage with Byung Gil was hasty, which led to the newlyweds encountering various problems like monetary issues, constant bickering, and apathy.

As time went on, Yuri began having mental health problems as well as extreme thoughts. Even when she was hospitalized , he never even called her.

It seems Byung Gil ran out of cash shortly after the marriage, and Yuri claims he wouldn't even have a child with her.

After many months of separation, Yuri finally filed for divorce in February of 2024, and it appears she is ready to move onto greener pastures, as she has also disclosed that she has a new boyfriend.

Heo Dong Won

Heo Dong Won, another actor to get divorced at the start of the year, tied the knot with his non-celebrity girlfriend in March 2023.

We're not sure what happened next, but judging by the fact the pair were divorcing in Feb 2024, just mere months later, it seems like their relationship fizzled out fast.

Heo Dong Won, for instance, deleted all his wife's photographs from social networks and just noted that it was a private affair, but no more news so far.

Lee Bum Soo

Lee Bum Soo went through an infinitely more complicated divorce with his ex-wife, the interpreter Lee Yun Jin.

Yun Jin was formerly Bum Soo's English teacher, and after two years of dating, they married in 2010.

They had a daughter and son together despite a 14-year age gap. However, in December 2023, Yun Jin posted some vague messages on social media that alluded to difficulties in her marriage.

She felt that she was nearing the close of a chapter in her life and refused to spread kindness to those who didn't have the right to receive it.

Not long after, she and her daughter moved to Bali, Indonesia, and in March 2024, it was reported that Yun Jin had submitted the divorce papers.

She said Bum Soo would not agree to the divorce and had her and their daughter barred from the couple's home in Seoul.

She continued by explaining that the relationship was filled with money issues and that she constantly had to fix all the things that Bum Soo screwed up.

She further alleged that he had many other mobile phones hidden around their house, and he had many other hidden secrets.

She continuously made terrible allegations against Bum Soo, such as that she was not allowed to contact their son.

These processes have not yet been finished, but it appears that Yun Jin is on her way to moving on.

Kim Soo Hyun

One such more recent example is the case of actress Kim Soo Hyun, more popularly known as Claudia Kim, who is known for her roles in the western films Avengers: Age of Ultron and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.

She married businessman Cha Min Geun in 2019, and they had a daughter the next year.

Their wedding came only months after they made their romance public, so their love story had fans across the globe hooked.

Still, things always appeared fine between the couple, so it came as a surprise when Soo Hyun announced on social media this past September that she was divorcing.

The firm reason behind the split has not been disclosed, and the pair's representatives confirmed that the divorce was held on a good level with consent.

Soo Hyun's agency, YG Entertainment, also said that the couple would continue to support one another and requested fans to refrain from leaving negative comments or deductive action as the breakup was reached after much contemplation.

Choi Min Hwan and Kim Yulhee

Another shocking split is that of Choy Min Hwan and Kim Yulhee.

The pair initially filed to end their marriage in December 2023, but the fallout has extended into the rest of 2024, and their battle rages on.

Min Hwan and Yulhee both have idol experience, as the former is a member of the rock band FT Island, and the latter was in the girl group Laboum.

Yulhee, who is also a model, saw headlines emerge of their romance in 2017 before she revealed she was pregnant and that the pair were getting married a few months later.

Now, they have three kids, and they were the perfect family. However, after 5 years of being married, the couple revealed in December 2023 they were on the verge of divorce.

Both of them released emotional letters, stating that they had thought for a long time about their decision to separate. But things became increasingly complicated as the trial unfolded.

Last October, Yulhee opened up about how difficult the divorce was for her and reminiscences on her relationship with Min Hwan with tears in her eyes, adding that she regretted the years spent with Min Hwan and not raising her children, who at that time were living with her ex-husband.

Min Hwan also claimed she had not expected him to file for divorce. Then, a few days later, Yulhee uploaded a YouTube video where she revealed details about Min Hwan and alleged that he had been visiting sex places during their marriage.

She also detailed inappropriate physical contact with Min Hwan, which was also done in front of Min Hwan's parents, and said he would put money in her chest.

According to Yulhee, her divorce was amicable-- no lawsuits were involved, but she gave up custody of her kids to be able to get a mutual divorce.

She admitted that was a mistake and was attempting to get her children back. Police investigated Min Hwan following the allegations.

However, he was found to have been innocent, as there was no evidence against him.

That still hasn't been fully settled yet anyway, though, and Yulhee is continuing to file to change custody and visitation as well as a new division of marital property.

Ji Yeon and Hwang Jae Gyun

Ji Yeon of Tara and baseball player Hwang Jae Gyun were another couple whose romance didn't last long in 2024.

Ji Yeon turned heads around in 2022, after years of speculation about whether she was seeing someone when she came out and announced her courtship with Jae Gyun, who she was slated to wed at the time.

She called him "a gift in my life" in a handwritten letter, and fans were glad to see she had finally found a man she could count on.

The two wed in December 2022 and appeared to be living the dream.

But problems soon surfaced between the pair, and in August 2023, Ji Yeon said that she was "going through a tough time,"... explaining that she felt her career "stopped" after the marriage and that she regularly felt "disillusioned" and "hollow."

Their personal strains came to a head in June 2024 when Jae Gyun was criticized for a fight with another athlete during a baseball game.

The criticism also fell on Jiyeon, making both her and her husband silent on social media for some time.

Soon, it became clear that Jae Gyun's aggressive action came from problems in his own life. One commentator actually said that he was going to get divorced.

Initially denied, though, and Jiyeon was back to her everyday life.

Of course, fans always searched for the smoking gun of a split. If you remember, Jae Gyun was seen out partying with women in September, and rumors of him cheating began to circulate.

It didn't go unnoticed by fans that Jiyeon had ceased wearing her wedding ring, and after some months of speculation over the summer, in October 2024, reports surfaced that the pair had finally settled up and were divorcing.

Jae Gyun suggested a difference in personality as the reason behind the split and said they were trying to reach an amicable settlement.

Though Jiyeon has moved on with her gigs amid an ongoing divorce, the clean-up of every single trace of her ex from her Instagram post shows she doesn't want anything to do with him anymore.