The debate resurfaced after comments by actor Ahn Jae-hyun. On April 28, a video titled “Crossing the line Son Byung-ho game. Kang So-ra shares her 15-day proposal story. Alddalcham Season 2 EP.5” was posted on the YouTube channel ‘Alttalttalhan Chamgyeon.’ The cast played the “Son Byung-ho game,” folding down fingers if a prompt applied.
Comedian Heo Kyung-hwan said, “I’ve never had a wedding,” and Ahn immediately folded a finger. When others looked briefly startled, Ahn explained, “I didn’t have a wedding.” Ahn married actor Ku Hye-sun in 2016 but did not hold a separate wedding ceremony and donated the cost. The two later divorced in 2020.
Since returning to TV after his divorce, Ahn has repeatedly faced on-air situations that evoke his marriage and divorce across variety shows and YouTube. Ku said on social media last year that she was uncomfortable with the divorce process being repeatedly revived through entertainment programs and headlines. “Continual and indirect references are a cowardly thing,” she wrote, warning that repeated consumption of a divorce can hurt those involved.
A similar dispute has followed talk about baseball player Hwang Jae-gyun remarrying. In an episode of MBN and Channel S’ “Jun Hyun-moo Plan 3” airing May 1, Jun Hyun-moo, KwakTube and Hwang are shown on a food trip to Mungyeong. In footage released ahead of the broadcast, Jun tells Hwang, “You have to meet another woman,” raising the topic of remarriage, and Hwang appears flustered. Hwang married Jiyeon, formerly of the group T-ara, in December 2022, but their divorce mediation was finalized at the Seoul Family Court on Nov. 20, 2024.
Hwang has expanded his public profile through entertainment shows after announcing he would retire as an active player at the end of the 2025 season. But as dating and remarriage are repeatedly raised whenever he appears after the divorce, some viewers have criticized what they see as a lack of consideration for the other party. Divorce may be one person’s present and past, they argue, but it is also another person’s private life.
The trend extends beyond any one celebrity. In recent years, broadcasters have increasingly used divorce as a variety-show hook. SBS’ “Shoes Off, Dolsing Fourmen” centered talk by divorced male cast members including Tak Jae-hoon, Im Won-hee, Lee Sang-min and Kim Jun-ho. Premiering in July 2021, it made “dolsing” — a Korean term for divorced people — its core concept and ran for more than four years until ending with Episode 213 in December 2025.
TV Chosun’s “We Got Divorced,” first aired in 2020, is also cited as a landmark in popularizing divorce-themed entertainment. It drew attention by reuniting divorced couples and having them spend time together, posting strong ratings from its debut and turning post-divorce relationships into observational TV. MBN’s “Divorced Singles” has continued for multiple seasons, focusing on dating and cohabitation among divorced men and women.
Programs observing life after divorce have also emerged. TV Chosun’s “Now I’m Alone” follows the daily lives of people who have experienced divorce or are going through the process, including Jeon No-min, Jo Yoon-hee, Choi Dong-seok and Lee Yoon-jin. Producers said the aim was to focus not on the reasons or process, but on life after becoming single again and starting over.
More recently, TV Chosun launched “X’s Private Life.” First aired March 17, it is a reality observation show in which one divorced spouse watches the other’s current daily life and new relationships. While the program says it aims to look at life after divorce and the process of moving on, the format — observing an ex-spouse’s private life — has raised questions about how far divorce entertainment can go without becoming exploitative.
A shifting social climate has also helped divorce become a broader TV theme. According to the National Data Center’s “2025 Marriage and Divorce Statistics,” South Korea recorded 88,130 divorces in 2025, down 3.3% from the previous year. Divorce is no longer viewed as an extremely rare event, and patterns have diversified, including the highest share coming from couples married 30 years or more.
That context helps explain the split in public response. Some say divorce is part of a person’s life experience and not something that must be hidden, and that more candid conversations are now possible. Others argue divorce is being consumed too casually, especially when an ex-spouse works in the same industry or the breakup involved public conflict, because a single remark can quickly revive the other person’s name and past events.
The issue is not whether divorce can be discussed, but how — and how far. Turning one’s experience into humor is different from repeatedly exposing private life in a way that pulls in the other party. Broadcasters may be moving away from treating divorce as taboo, but if that shift works mainly by reopening someone’s wounds, discomfort is likely to persist.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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