“Ridiculous”: Junsu denies dating former Lovelyz member Kei via a personal statement on Instagram

JYJ's Junsu took to his personal Instagram account to clarify that he is not dating former Lovelyz member Kei. On August 18, Junsu wrote in a personal statement that they are friends and labelmates and are not in a romantic relationship.

He revealed that as celebrities, they are used to articles written about them. However, this dating rumor took him by surprise. He shared that he was always formal with Lovelyz's Kei, but now thanks to this dating rumor, they will be awkward.

Junsu apologized not only to his fans but also to Kei's fans. Read his complete statement below:

"While living as a celebrity, there have been several incidents where I was taken aback or unfairly portrayed in articles, but today's article has ranked #1 as the article that took me by the most surprise. [Kei] is an actress who I met through the company and through [our similarities] as previous idols. We were already using formal language and were careful around each other, but thanks to this [dating article], we will likely be even more awkward now. I apologize to Kei's fans for seeing such a ridiculous article since the early morning. I also want to tell my fans to not worry for at least today."

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JYJ's Junsu and former Lovelyz's member Kei's agency PALMTREE ISLAND denies dating rumors

JYJ's Junsu and Kei's agency PALMTREE ISLAND has denied rumors that the two stars are dating. On August 19, news outlet My Daily reported that Kim Junsu and Kei, who recently starred together in the musicals Excalibur and Death Note, are currently in a relationship.

My Daily also stated the age difference between the W singer and Lovelyz's former member, Kei, is eight years, with the former TVXQ member born in December 1986 and the musical actress born in March 1995. Shortly after this, their joint agency, PALMTREE ISLAND, released a statement firmly denying the dating rumors.

For those unversed, the former TVXQ member, also known by his stage name Xia, has established his own one-man agency, PALMTREE ISLAND, following his departure from his former agency C-JeS Entertainment.

In January 2022, Kei signed with the former TVXQ member's agency as a musical actress. The agency is home to actors like Kim So-hyun, Jeong Seon-ah, Jin Tae-hwa, Seo Kyung-soo, Yang Seo-yoon, and more.

Soon after the dating news, fans took to social media to share their reactions to the news.

Most fans were taken aback by the suddenness of the news.

Some fans even commented on the eight-year age gap between the Death Note star and Kei.

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Who is Kim Jun-su?

Kim Jun-su, also known as Junsu or his stage name Xia, is a former TVXQ member, K-pop idol, singer, and stage actor.

In 2003 he made his debut with SM Entertainment's "it" boy group TVXQ. The group had released four Korean albums, four Japanese albums, thirty Japanese singles, and several Korean singles during his first six years in the music industry as a member of the group.

In 2009, Junsu, alongside his fellow bandmates Kim Jae-joong and Park Yoo-chun, filed a lawsuit against the management of SM Entertainment for drafting "unfair contracts against their artists." The case stated that the "slave" contract was unilaterally disadvantageous to artists and should be invalidated.

In a watershed moment in K-pop history, the three TVXQ members won the case against their former management and ensured idols aren't subjected to "slave" contracts in the future.

Today, the former TVXQ member is an entrepreneur and one of Korea's most established musical actors, who also boasts of a successful solo career.