Son Ye Jin Opens Up About Falling for Hyun Bin While Filming "Crash Landing on You"

Son Ye Jin and Hyun Bin remain one of South Korea’s most beloved star couples, thanks in part to the way their romance mirrored their onscreen pairing in the hit K-drama Crash Landing on You. While the two have kept much of their private life away from the spotlight, Ye Jin recently opened up in an appearance on Jung Jaehyung’s YouTube show Fairy Jaehyung.

Many fans associate the start of their romance with Crash Landing on You, the 2019 global hit where she played a South Korean heiress who accidentally ends up in North Korea and meets Hyun Bin’s stoic Captain Ri Jung Hyuk. Ye Jin explained, however, that it wasn’t tied to a single moment or scene in the drama. “It just built up gradually, and our feelings grew… Watching, I didn’t think, ‘Oh, Ri Jung Hyuk is so cool.’ I only thought the character was cool.”

Their connection, she explained, went back even earlier to The Negotiation, the 2018 crime thriller where they played a negotiator and a kidnapper who only meet through video calls. “Even during The Negotiation, we realized we had so much in common. We're the same age, debuted the same year, both the youngest in our families…And the shoot itself was short. So during the promo tour, that's when we really spent more time talking on the bus and so on.”

“And at the core I thought, ‘He's such a good person,’” she continued. “So throughout filming [Crash Landing on You], I kept thinking, ‘Wow, this person doesn't put up a façade. He’s just showing himself as he really is.’ I really liked that.”

After Crash Landing on You wrapped, speculation about their relationship intensified, and in 2021, the actors confirmed they were dating. They married in March 2022 in a private ceremony in Seoul that drew some of the biggest names in Korean entertainment. By that November, Ye Jin and Hyun Bin welcomed their first child, a son.

When asked if her husband ever pressures her at home, Ye Jin quickly dismissed the thought. “The best thing about my husband is he’s never once said, ‘I want you to do this’ or ‘Don’t do that.’ He’s so kind, even then.”

She also reflected on how motherhood reshaped her perspective. “Before, I was like a racehorse only seeing straight ahead. But after having a child, my view widened. The world feels more tender, more beautiful. Things I couldn’t see before, I can now.”

Ye Jin said daily life has shifted since their newlywed days, with meals now focused on their child. Hyun Bin, she added, never complains about missing some of her earlier recipes. “He just accepts it as if it’s natural, because he’s quiet,” she said, joking, “Maybe he writes it in a diary… or pokes a doll with pins.”