Fake DMs just dragged The Legend of Kitchen Soldier into the dating-rumor spotlight, with director Jo Nam-hyung denying he ever commented on romance between stars Park Ji-hoon, Jeon So-young, Lee Sang-yi and Han Dong-hee.
The screenshot seemed to show Jo hinting that two on-screen couples from the military cooking drama were also together in real life, landing just as the 12 episode series finished its strong TVING and tvN run with a finale around 7.6 percent. With Park Ji-hoon fresh off blockbuster film The King’s Warden, fans clicked fast on anything labeled “dating rumor.”
The fake DM that sparked Park Ji-hoon dating rumors
After the June 16 finale, a social media user uploaded screenshots they said were DMs with Jo Nam-hyung. The fan asks if Park Ji-hoon and Jeon So-young, and Lee Sang-yi and Han Dong-hee, are really dating, and the alleged reply vaguely suggests those pairings did not come from nowhere.
The images bounced through Korean forums and global stan feeds, where some viewers treated them as a quiet confirmation and others worried that a director was commenting on his actors’ private lives.
What Jo Nam-hyung really said about the rumor
Jo Nam-hyung moved quickly to shut the story down. On his own social media, he wrote, “Stop fabricating things. I have never sent a DM,” stressing that he had never held that conversation with any fan.
He called the screenshot fabricated, the uploader removed the post, and Korean entertainment coverage quickly treated the DM as a fake receipt rather than real proof of dating, highlighting how easily edited DMs can mislead fandoms.
Are the ‘Kitchen Soldier’ couples actually dating off screen?
Right now, there is no confirmed evidence that Park Ji-hoon and Jeon So-young, or Lee Sang-yi and Han Dong-hee, are dating in real life. The only supposed “proof” was the fake DM Jo denied, and neither the actors nor their agencies have issued statements about their love lives.
Part of why the rumor felt convincing is the strong on-screen chemistry in The Legend of Kitchen Soldier, a military comedy fantasy where Park’s character Kang Seong-jae discovers a talent for cooking through game-like missions at a remote base. The series, adapted from the web novel Kitchen Soldier, held steady ratings across 12 episodes and ended as a clear cable hit, according to Nielsen Korea.
For global fans who discovered the title through the controversy, the full season is available on TVING and tvN in Korea and is streaming on platforms like Rakuten Viki and HBO Max in selected regions. With Park Ji-hoon fresh off the record-setting success of The King’s Warden, industry attention remains centered on his acting choices rather than his unconfirmed love life, and any future updates on the cast’s relationships will need to come from official channels, not anonymous DMs.