Park Bo Young's First Dating Rumor: Kim Hee Won Mentioned

Actress Park Bo-young has addressed dating rumors with actor Kim Hee-won, which surfaced about six years ago. Appearing on the YouTube channel 'DdeunDdeun' in a video titled 'Golden Friendship is an Excuse,' Park Bo-young explained the situation when the dating rumors with Kim Hee-won first broke out. She revealed that she was traveling to a rural area to meet a close director and Kim Hee-won accompanied her. Initially, Lee Kwang-soo was also supposed to join them, but he couldn't due to filming schedules, leading to the dating rumors when only Park Bo-young and Kim Hee-won went together.

Park Bo-young initially dismissed the dating rumors posted on social media, but the situation escalated when they were reported by the media. She expressed her embarrassment at the time, particularly mentioning receiving many calls from her father saying, "Bo-young's boyfriend is too old." She added that it was difficult to issue an official statement because she didn't have a management company at the time, and when she called Kim Hee-won, he was sick and couldn't talk properly.

Ultimately, Park Bo-young clarified the dating rumors by writing a post on her fan cafe. She began with the line, "I guess I've grown up," and stated that she and Kim Hee-won have a good senior-junior relationship and are friends. Kim Hee-won also mentioned receiving numerous calls at the time and, on the advice of his representative, had to issue an official statement, but he humorously replied, "I just said no," eliciting laughter.

Park Bo-young revealed her hurt feelings, sharing an anecdote where she didn't speak to Kim Hee-won for a year because of the dating rumors. She directly called Kim Hee-won and expressed her disappointment, saying, "Do you think our friendship can be broken over something like this?" She then stated that their relationship was later repaired.

Park Bo-young also discussed the reason for her appearance in Kim Hee-won's directorial debut, the Disney+ series 'The Lighting Shop.' She explained that after meeting through the movie 'Collective Invention,' she frequently met with Kim Hee-won and Lee Kwang-soo to discuss acting and share advice. Although she felt pressure after receiving the script for 'The Lighting Shop,' which Kim Hee-won was directing, she decided to appear because she liked the webtoon artist Kang Full and was a fan of his webtoon.