Actors Lee Bo Young and Ji Sung recently celebrated the upcoming arrival of their first child at a baby shower thrown by their friends.
The shower was attended by several of the actors' friends, including actresses Bae Jong Ok, Byun Jung Soo and Yoon Hyun Sook, who all appeared with Lee Bo Young in the 2011 drama "Hooray for Love." Jang Hee Jin, who appeared with Lee Bo Young in the 50-episode drama "My Daughter Seo Young," also attended.
The apartment and balcony of the shower location were decorated with balloons, pastel banners, giant baby bottles, cut-out letters that spell out the word "girl" and bouquets of white and pink flowers.
In pictures posted on Lee Bo Young's SNS, she and husband Ji Sung looked radiantly happy. Lee Bo Young is wearing a garland of white flowers and a lacy long maternity caftan, looking as radiant as she did on the day of her wedding.
The couple has not previously identified the gender of their baby. But given the presence of the word "Girl" and the pink and pastel theme of the party, it looks like their first child is likely to be a girl.
Kwak Bo Bae is the nickname that the couple gave to their baby before she was born. Ji Sung explained the baby's nickname on an episode the MBC program "Entertainment Relay."
"It's Bo Bae. Kwak Bo Bae. My real name is Kwak Tae Geun, and so Kwak Bo Bae means 'Kwak Tae Geun and Lee Bo Young's Baby.'"
The "Bae" refers to baby.
The actors met when they appeared together in 2004 drama "Save The Last Dance For Me. They married in 2013. Lee Bo Young was last seen in the drama "God's Gift - 14 Days" and Ji Sung scored a big hit with his last drama "Kill Me Heal Me."
Baby showers are a fairly new tradition in Korea. A more traditional approach for the couple would be to celebrate the baby's birth 100 days after it is born. Custom says that if the baby's family shares special dishes such as rice cakes with 100 people that baby's life will be long and healthy. The Baek-il celebration is traditionally the day you introduce parents introduce the new child to neighbors and friends. But increasingly many couples have a baby shower and a Baek-il celebration.
Lee Bo Young and Ji Sung still have a few weeks to go until their child is born. Hopefully, they will post photos of their Baek-il celebration as well.
