Best Friends Since Freshmen
Ok Joo-hyun and Song Hye-kyo met each other when they were both freshmen in their high school. Both met at Eunkwang Girls’ High School and became friends ever since. There is no further information about how they actually met and how they managed to remain friends for so many years. One thing’s for sure though, they support each other and still keep in touch even with their busy schedules after joining the Korean entertainment industry.
Having a Career in the Entertainment Industry
Ok Joo-hyun originally debuted as a member of a girl group named Fin.K.L. along with other members Lee Hyo-ri, Lee Jin, and Sung Yu-ri, in 1998 under DSP Media. The group has been inactive since 2002 and is considered to have disbanded, though unofficially. Its members then found their own way to continue their careers, including Ok Joo-hyun. She started her solo career in 2003 and released a ballad called “I…” that entered the top 10 in the Korean music charts. She lost weight significantly in her second album and got even more popular. After her third album was released, she worked as a radio station DJ for MBC and became MC for the Korean networks KBS and SBS. She appeared in several TV Shows, like X-Men (2003) as a guest, King of The Mask (2015) as a contestant, Life Bar (2016) as a guest. She was cast for the leading role Bae Gang-hee in the TV series The Musical (2011). She has also released many TV Shows Theme Songs (OST), like “Page One (Part 2)” featuring T-ARA’s Se-yeon for Coffee House (2010) and “Ruby” featuring Fin.K.L. for Reply 1997 (2012). Meanwhile, Song Hye-kyo debuted at the age of 14 by winning a school uniform model competition when she was still a third-year junior high school student. She started her acting career in the TV Series Wedding Dress (1997-1998) playing the role of the granddaughter. She had her big breakthrough when she got the role of Yoon Eun-seo in Autumn in My Heart (2000). She is also known for her roles in other famous TV series, such as Full House (2004) where she plays the role of Han Ji-eun, That Winter, The Wind Blows (2013) where she plays the role of Oh Young, and Descendants of the Sun (2016) where she plays the role of Kang Mo-yeon which greatly increased her popularity due to her acting alongside fellow actor, Song Joong-ki, as a couple (they later get married in real life). She has been cast in many movies and has been nominated in several categories at many award events. Both actresses have established their respective careers in their own way with their own activities. Ok Joo-hyun is busy with her singing and acting career, especially in musicals, while Song Hye-kyo has her placed her focus on acting in several TV series and movies.
Giving Support to Each Other
Their tight schedules don’t seem to be a reason for them to stop seeing each other. Apparently, Song Hye-kyo with her, at the time, soon to be husband, Song Joong-ki, visited Ok Joo-hyun when she was performing in her musical theater Rebbeca, on October 12th, 2017, to show their support. Ok Joo-hyun posted a photo on her Instagram account and showed her happy face between the couple’s faces.
A post shared by 옥주현 OKJOOHYUN 이지혜 LEEJIHYE (@potluck_official) on Oct 11, 2017 at 6:20pm PDT Ok Joo-hyun also would be singing a congratulatory song in Song Hye-kyo’s and Song Joong-ki’s wedding later.
Ok Joo-hyun at Song Hye-kyo’s Wedding
Song Hye-kyo and Song Joong-ki finally tied the knot on October 31st, 2017. Their wedding was attended by many artists, including Ok Joo-hyun. She even sang a congratulatory song, the song “A Whole New World” from the Disney movie Aladdin. The song was requested by the couple and she thought of them as a fairy tale couple so she granted them the wish. The former idol shed tears after singing the first four lines and stopped for a while before starting over again. Later, in an interview in SBS PowerFM’s Choi Hwa Jung’s Power Time, in January 2018, Ok Joo-hyun revealed why she cried at the wedding. As cited by Soompi, the actress said, “While I was singing, I saw Song Hye-kyo tearing up so I started to cry, too.” She also said that she has known Song Hye-kyo for such a long time that she knew that her friend was not the type to cry often. So the moment Ok Joo-hyun saw Song Hye-kyo’s tip of her nose turning red, she began to cry too. The strong bond between them was cherished days after too. It could be seen in Song Hye-kyo’s post on her Instagram account. https://www.instagram.com/p/BbRoOVHFF_q/?utm_source=ig_embed In her post, as cited by Soompi, she said, “We first met back when I was a high school freshman… Time flies… 20 years of friendship, Thank you, and I love you.” The photo shows the two of them (Song Hye-kyo and Ok Joo-hyun) together with Lee Jin, another former member of Fin.K.L. group, like Ok Joo-hyun. Lee Jin actually also graduated from the same high school as Song Hye-kyo. As we can see, the friendship between them is so strong even though time has passed for two decades. Maybe they don’t always show their support to each other publicly, but we can expect them to be friends until the end and keep growing old together.
