Actor Lee Jung-jae on Thursday confirmed his romantic relationship with Lim Se-ryung, the ex-wife of Samsung Group heir Lee Jae-yong.
The award-winning top actor said, “Our friendship only recently developed into something beyond friendship.”

His comment was taken as an official announcement that he was in a relationship with Lim, the heiress of Daesang Group and a mother of two.

Lee Jung-jae and Lim Se-ryong. (OSEN)

Shortly after Lee’s comment, Dispatch, a news agency known for its coverage of Korean celebrities, disclosed photos of the two dating in public.

Lee, 43, and Lim, 42, have been mired in rumors for a while.

“The two have been friends for a long time,” Lee’s agency CJeS Entertainment said in a press release. “Although their relationship has gone through a careful shift, it is not as clear a relationship as a lovers’ relationship,” it added.

Rumors about their relationships have long been circulating but the agency claims that the two began dating only recently. “The two have been mired in dating rumors since 2010, but we would like to make it crystal clear that, in those days, the two were never more than friends who cared about each other’s difficulties,” CJeS said.

The agency also attempted to straighten out some of the negative rumors about the relationship. It flatly denied Dispatch’s report that Lee had been introduced to Lim by his ex-girlfriend, actress Kim Min-hee. The agency also dismissed a report about Lee and Lim taking the same flight to the Philippines in 2010, saying that the two were on “definitely different schedules” and that Lee was not escorting the heiress.

By Chung Joo-won (joowonc@heraldcorp.com)