Both EXO's ex-member Kris and 2PM's Hwang Chansung were involved in dating rumors this week that involved Chinese celebrities.
According to an article in Sports World, Chinese director Xu Jing Lei, 40, allegedly seduced Kris, 23, away from his girlfriend while he was still in EXO. She supposedly supported his decision to leave EXO.
Kris denied the rumors, telling Ilgan Sports that he and Xu Jing Lei are not dating. They are merely working together as director and actor. He appears in "Somewhere Only We Know," a film that Xu Jing Lei both directs and stars in. The film tells the story of a young woman who travels to Europe after getting jilted by her fiancée.
The film is Kris' acting debut.
Not only did Kris deny the rumors, Xu Jing Lei refused to take them seriously. On Weibo she wrote, "Is this a joke? From foreign friends?"
The rumors may have begun because of a previous post, in which she commented on the actors' good looks.
Singer-actor Hwang Chansung also got involved in a dating scandal recently after Chinese media outlets reported that he was dating Chinese star Ada Liu, also called Liu Yan.
The actress mentioned that she had a boyfriend that she met on the Chinese variety program "If You Love Me." The dating variety show is similar to the Korean program "We Got Married." She and Chansung are co-stars on that program, but the media immediately assumed they were also dating in real life.
Chansung's agency, JYP Entertainment, told several media outlets that the rumor was false.
"Upon confirmation with Chansung, the two stars are not in a relationship," they told eDaily. "We believe it was just the spreading of random groundless rumors.
Ada Liu later clarified her statement. She said that she was talking about dating on the program.
"On the TV show we are really dating but we are in the beginning stages."
At 34, Liu is ten years older than the 2PM singer, who appeared in the drama "Level 7 Civil Servant" and the film "Red Carpet."
If the rumors were true it would not be the first time a Korean celebrity and a Chinese celebrity were dating. It is inevitable that the more time Hallyu stars spend in China and appear in joint Korean-Chinese productions, the more opportunity they will have to meet Chinese stars.
Actress Chae Rim will marry Chinese actor Gao Ziqi in October. They met while playing husband and wife in a Chinese drama.
Chinese actress Tang Wei is set to marry Korean filmmaker Kim Tae Yong. Tang Wei and Kim Tae Yong denied rumors they were dating in 2012, saying they were just friends. They became romantically involved in 2013 and now plan to marry.
