Koo Kyo-hwan and Lee Ok-seop: Korea's Long-Term Celebrity Couple

Summary

Koo Kyo-hwan is getting massive attention right now as the main villain in Yeon Sang-ho's zombie thriller *Guncheche*, the *Train to Busan* director's next film with Jun Ji-hyun dropping May 2026. Everyone's buzzing about his role as the guy who starts the infection, but what's also trending is his 13-year relationship with actress Lee Ok-seop — one of Korea's most low-key long-term couples in the industry.

Why do we peek

Korean entertainment fans are obsessed with long-term celebrity couples because they're genuinely rare — most relationships either end quickly or get hidden until marriage announcements. Koo and Lee have been public about their relationship for over a decade without all the dating scandal drama, which feels refreshing. Plus, Koo's known for picking intense indie roles, so seeing him get this big blockbuster moment makes people want to celebrate everything about him, including his personal life.

Main Story

Koo Kyo-hwan is getting massive attention right now for playing the main villain in *Guncheche*, Yeon Sang-ho's next zombie thriller with Jun Ji-hyun dropping May 2026. He's the guy who starts the whole infection, and it's already trending hard. But what's also blowing up is that he's been dating actress Lee Ok-seop for 13 years straight — one of the longest-running celebrity relationships in the Korean entertainment industry.

Backstory

*Guncheche* hasn't been released yet, but you can catch Koo Kyo-hwan's earlier work in films like *Escape from Mogadishu* (2021) or the indie hit *Jane* (2016). Lee Ok-seop is less known internationally but has appeared in dramas like *Hospital Playlist*. The couple's been together since around 2011, and Koreans genuinely respect how they've kept things steady without the usual celebrity relationship chaos.

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