Korean-American action star Ma Dong-seok and South Korean television personality-fitness trainer Ye Jung-hwa are finally holding a wedding ceremony three years after tying the knot.
Now that’s something you don’t hear every day.
The Power Couple
The Groom: Ma Dong-seok
Affectionately dubbed “The Rock of Korea”, Ma Dong-seok is known for his formidable presence and versatile acting skills.
Ma Dong-seok, also known as Don Lee, is a highly sought-after actor under Big Punch Entertainment.
Ma first rose to fame for his supporting roles in the films The Neighbors (2012), Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time (2012), and The Outlaws (2017).
His role in the zombie film Train to Busan (2016) brought him international popularity, opening even more doors for Ma.
The 53-year-old has landed leading roles in films such as Derailed (2016), Unstoppable (2018), and The Roundup (2022).
In 2019, he joined the cast of the MCU film Eternals as Gilgamesh, marking his Hollywood debut.
Other than acting, Ma has made considerable gains in other fields such as arm-wrestling and screenplay writing.
Ma has been an amateur arm-wrestler since 2008 and even became the president of Korea Arm-wrestling Federation 10 years later.
With his production company Team Gorilla, Ma is currently involved in planning and writing screenplays. He worked on the screenplay for the film Deep Trap (2015), in which he starred.
The Bride: Ye Jung-hwa
Ma’s wife, Ye Jung-hwa, is a South Korean health trainer, also under Big Punch Entertainment.
Though she is lesser-known than her husband, the lovely bride-to-be has made a name for herself in the entertainment industry.
The 35-year-old has had a few appearances on shows and movies such as Girls’ Love Story (2015), The Outlaws (2017), and The Soul-Mate (2018).
Her main strength, however, lies in variety shows in South Korea. Radio Star, I Live Alone, My Little Television, No Way I’m an Adult, Slimmy Lunch Box, and Thanks for the Food are just some variety shows she has been on.
Ye Jung-hwa has also carved out a niche for herself in the modeling industry, amassing 310,000 followers on Instagram.
Although Ye is 17 years younger than Ma, their strong marriage shows their dedication and love, proving that love knows know limits.
Surprise, We’re Married!
Although the two are public figures, they have largely kept their relationship out of the spotlight, choosing to focus on their personal lives away from the glare of the media.
In fact, if you check their Instagram pages, you won’t see a single picture of the two together.
As such, news of their marriage came as a surprise.
The two went public with their relationship in 2016. They later registered their marriage in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
And, as the two keep their relationship out of the spotlight, news of their marriage only came to light a year later, when Ma referred to Ye as his wife during his acceptance speech at the SACF Artist of the Year Awards in October 2022.
“I send my love to my biggest supporter and wife Ye Jung-hwa as well as my family,” he said, according to Korea JoongAng Daily.
You can imagine the surprise everyone felt when he called her his wife out of the blue!
Ma’s agency then confirmed the marriage and said the couple had yet to hold a wedding ceremony due to their busy schedules.
After three long years, the couple’s schedules seem to have finally aligned as they will be holding a wedding this year.
The wedding will occur in Seoul on 26 May, and this private ceremony is likely to be open to only family and friends.
Since the duo is known to keep their relationship rather private, we probably can’t expect much news or pictures of the wedding itself, though many are still eagerly watching the social media pages of the two in hopes of catching a glimpse of the gorgeous Ye Jung-hwa in a wedding dress.