Beloved Actress Clarifies Details About Her First Dating Rumor Involving A Man 19 Years Her Senior

Park Bo Young is finally clearing up the 2020 dating rumor with Kim Hee Won.

The controversy began when photos of the two surfaced during a trip outside Seoul. Rumors quickly spread that they were dating, despite the 19-year age gap.

Park Bo Young explained it all happened during a casual visit to a director they worked with on Collective Invention. The plan was to catch up over a meal with a group, including Lee Kwang Soo, who couldn’t make it last minute.

She said the media only showed pictures of her and Kim Hee Won, making it look like a date.

“A director we worked with on Collective Invention was staying outside of Seoul, so Hee Won suggested we go visit him, have a meal, and catch up. Lee Kwang Soo was originally supposed to come too but couldn’t make it. We ate crab and spent time together, but it was reported as if it were just the two of us on a date.”

At first, Park brushed off the rumors but they gained traction fast. It became a family issue when her dad started getting calls blasting the age gap.

“At first, it was just something that popped up on social media. A friend sent it to me and I laughed it off. Then articles started coming out. My dad started getting a lot of calls—people saying, ‘Bo Young’s boyfriend is too old.’”

Without an agency to manage her back then, Park posted on her fan café to set the record straight: they were just friends and colleagues.

The fallout hurt their friendship more than the rumor. Kim Hee Won stopped contacting her for almost a year, feeling guilty.

“We were really close, but because of that, he stopped contacting me for a year. I got upset and asked him if that was the reason. He said he was sorry and felt bad. I told him I was more upset that our friendship could be shaken like that. We’re still close now.”

The two eventually reconciled and remain good friends.

Park Bo Young and Kim Hee Won’s friendship survived the rumors and media frenzy.

Actress Park Bo Young | _@boyoung0212official/Instagram