K-pop boy band Super Junior member Ryeowook, 33, is in a romantic relationship with actress Ari, 25, former member of the defunct girl group Tahiti.
Label SJ, Super Junior’s label, confirmed reports that the two are dating, saying that after confirmation, Ryeowook and Ari first became close as senior and junior artists and this developed into a romantic relationship.
Ryeowook, born in 1987, is the third member among the current members of Super Junior to have a relationship. Sungmin got married to actress Kim Sa-eun in December 2014 while Heechul was confirmed to be in a relationship with TWICE’s Momo last January.
Before Ryeowook and Ari’s relationship was confirmed, fans were already speculating as early as July last year if the two were dating.
After the news was confirmed, Ari took to Twitter to clarify things including that she is not a member of the religious group Shincheonji, which is being blamed for the massive coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections in Daegu, South Korea.
On the app Lysn, Ryeowook posted a letter to confirm that he is dating Ari but apologized to ELFs (Super Junior fans) for it.
He said fans gave him a lot of consideration but “my lack of consideration seems to have caused more confusion.”
“Super Junior and ELFs are precious to me. It's a pity that there are too many false rumors that are going around,” said Ryeowook, promising that he will do his best not to damage his Super Junior activities.
Ryeowook debuted in Super Junior in 2005 while Ari debuted in Tahiti in 2012. Tahiti performed in Manila in January 2013 at the Dream K-pop Fantasy Concert together with Girls' Generation, Infinite, U-KISS, EXO and Tasty.
In July 2018, Tahiti announced their disbandment after six years in the business. In a post on July 26, 2018, Ari explained that “after careful consideration and much deliberation between our company and all the members of Tahiti, we have come to the decision of disbandment.”
“I would like to say thank you to everyone who has supported, inspired us through the years and stood by us in this difficult decision. Looking back at the last six years with our fans, I am very grateful and blessed but also very heartbroken, too you all,” she added.