E Ji-ah says married and divorced Seo Taiji

Seo Taiji (lef) and E Ji-ah [Seotaiji Company / KEYEAST]

Hours after sending the country into a state of shock and confusion, Korean actress E Ji-ah admitted she had married rocker Seo Taiji.

A statement issued by E's agency KEYEAST late on Thursday acknowledged a report from earlier in the day which claimed that E Ji-ah married Seo Taiji, Korea's cultural icon from the '90s.

Nobody had been aware of their relationship, let alone suspicious of the two, and both were believed to be unmarried. Furthermore, E had recently announced she is dating top Korean actor Jung Woo-sung, her co-star of TV series "Athena."

Contrary to yesterday's report however, KEYEAST stressed that E is not in the process of getting a divorce from Seo Taiji but had rather already split from him in 2009 after filing for it in 2006, due to differences in personality and the unordinary job and lifestyle of her then-husband.

E had then worked toward reaching an agreement on her compensation for the divorce but upon nearing the statue of limitations on the issue, at three years under Korean law, she filed a suit asking for alimony and division of property on January 19 of this year.

KEYEAST then provided a detailed description on the two's relationship.

E, now reported to be born in 1978, went to study abroad in the U.S. in 1993 and the same year met Seo Taiji through an acquaintance when he was in the country for a concert.

They started dating after having kept in touch and became closer when Seo Taiji left for the U.S. in 1996 after abruptly announcing his retirement as an artist.

The two then quietly married the following year, living in Atlanta and Arizona until Seo Taiji made his comeback to the music scene in Korea in June 2000. E was left alone up till 2006 when she filed for divorce.

In the meantime, E had shot a television commercial in Korea by chance when she briefly visited Korea in late 2004 and took interest in becoming a celebrity after meeting the chief of KEYEAST on set.

She returned to Korea in early 2005 and auditioned for 2007 historical epic "Four Gods," starring Hallyu star Bae Yong-joon, in which she landed her debut role as the leading female character. That is the year she signed with KEYEAST.

"She had to hide her personal life because the other party was a highly famous person. She is sorry to everyone that she could not tell the truth regarding everything and she herself has spent times that have been hard to bear alone," KEYEAST remarked at the end of the statement.

"She may have been young but she truly loved him and she wanted to see an amicable ending to things so she is truly sorry that she has not been able to do that."

When the news first broke, Jung Woo-sung's rep at Taurus Films had told 10Asia that the actor is "extremely confused and taken aback" while hoping what has been reported is not true. He has not spoken to the press since the release of KEYEAST's official statement.

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Jessica Kim jesskim@