Park Shi Yeon: The Runner-Up Was Once Song Joong Ki’s Screen Lover, Abandoned by Husband and Involved in Drug Scandal
Park Shi Yeon is perhaps one of the most notorious names in the Korean entertainment industry due to her controversial personal life. She has been to jail for drug use, abandoned by her husband after giving birth, and faced audience boycotts.
Life Transformation through the Beauty Arena
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
Park Shi Yeon won the title of Runner-Up in the Miss Korea pageant in 2000 when she was just 21 years old. Prior to participating in the beauty pageant in Korea, Park Shi Yeon was studying journalism at a university in the United States.
In a later television program, Park Shi Yeon revealed, “When I was young, I was very shy and lacked confidence. I would even burst into tears when asked to sing in front of my parents on New Year’s Eve. My mother decided to enroll me in a music academy with the hope that I would overcome my self-doubt. Strangely enough, I could be shy while singing in front of my mother, but I felt completely confident and natural on a big stage.”
Winning a beauty pageant title became a stepping stone for her entry into the film industry. She started her acting career by accepting roles in Chinese television projects such as “The Phoenix Seeks His Mate,” “Lotus Lantern,” and “Precious Horse” before returning to South Korea to establish herself.
In 2005, Park Shi Yeon began to receive attention thanks to the success of the television drama “My Girl.” Previously criticized for her one-dimensional acting with no standout features, Park Shi Yeon made efforts to learn and improve herself every day. To prove her acting abilities, the beautiful actress took on various types of roles, even daring to portray sensitive scenes.
Her roles in subsequent films such as “Bitter Sweet Life,” “The Slingshot,” “Coffee House,” and “The Innocent Man” were highly praised. Her later performances earned her high accolades, and Park Shi Yeon quickly rose to the A-list position in the Korean entertainment industry.
Park Shi Yeon’s future roles in television dramas showcased her versatility. She portrayed a lonely damsel, a seductive female spy, and at times transformed into a self-sacrificing woman for the freedom of the person she loved.
Park Shi Yeon’s seductive beauty and talent caught the attention of a Hollywood director. The actress in her 70s had her debut role when she collaborated with the American film industry in “Last Knights” in 2015. She acted alongside Clive Owen, Morgan Freeman, and veteran Korean actor Ahn Sung Ki.
In 2012, Park Shi Yeon had a memorable scene with Song Joong Ki in the television drama “Nice Guy.” The audience remembered her as Song Joong Ki’s “on-screen ex-girlfriend.” After the drama aired, Park Shi Yeon and Song Joong Ki became close. Until now, their relationship remains quite good.
It is known that the actor from “Descendants of the Sun” visited the film set to support his senior colleague’s new work. The two even took affectionate photos together. In fact, Song Joong Ki has good chemistry with any beautiful actress he works with, and Park Shi Yeon is one of them.
Jail Sentence for Drug Use and Reckless Driving
While her career was on the rise, Park Shi Yeon was unexpectedly involved in a propofol scandal. Propofol is a sedative on the list of banned substances and is usually used in surgical procedures with proper dosage. If abused, propofol can become addictive.
Despite attempting to explain her use of propofol for the treatment of injuries during the filming of the movies “Marine Boy” and “Dachimawa Lee” in 2006, the Seoul court found that Park Shi Yeon had exceeded the normal treatment dosage of the banned substance. She was sentenced to 8 months in prison and 2 years of probation. In November 2013, just 2 months after giving birth to her first child, Park Shi Yeon had to serve her sentence.
In January 2021, the actress was caught driving under the influence of alcohol, causing an accident that injured the driver and two passengers in the car. It took two weeks for them to recover. At the time of the accident, Park Shi Yeon’s blood alcohol concentration was measured at 0.097%. The actress was subsequently fined 12 million won for violating traffic laws by the Eastern Seoul District Court. Park Shi Yeon was also fined 2.5 million won in 2006 for causing a traffic accident.
Divorce Shortly After Giving Birth
The turmoil in the life of the former Korean runner-up didn’t end when her husband decided to abandon her, even right after she had given birth, unable to withstand the pressure from public opinion. In 2016, when their second daughter was just 6 months old, her husband proposed a divorce. There were reports that Park Shi Yeon continued to use banned substances after her prison term, causing further strain in their relationship.
In a press release sent to the media, Park Shi Yeon’s representative stated that the couple had tried to reconcile their differences but had no success. Therefore, they both decided to go their separate ways. The divorce of Park Shi Yeon and her husband became a hot topic in the news and on social media at that time. Many “tabloid” information about Park Shi Yeon’s personal life emerged thereafter, significantly impacting the lives of the former runner-up and her two daughters. There were even reports that Park Shi Yeon and her ex-husband engaged in legal disputes over asset division, which the actress denied.
After the divorce, Park Shi Yeon struggled to return to work in the entertainment industry to support her two daughters. The scandal of her drug use seemed to put an end to Park Shi Yeon’s career. From an A-list star, she was abandoned by brands, and directors were reluctant to collaborate with her for fear of negative public reactions. Park Shi Yeon had to work while raising and caring for her two young children, making life extremely challenging.
From 2014 until now, Park Shi Yeon has only appeared in three films. She has accepted small roles to earn money to support her two daughters. Park Shi Yeon has also become more private and rarely appears at entertainment events. Colleagues and friends revealed that the former runner-up’s life has not been easy since the drug scandal.
