Do we like Son Ye-jin?
Our score: 8 out of 10. No harmful words or company turned up, a long record of donations, and only a thin public record on causes.
Son Ye-jin is one of South Korea's best-known screen actresses, and she's been at it for more than two decades. She was born and raised in Daegu, and she has said that city is a place that's "even more special" to her. Her latest run includes Park Chan-wook's film No Other Choice, which won her a Best Actress award in June 2026.
The nearest thing to a scandal is a 2025 flap from the No Other Choice press conference. Co-star Lee Byung-hun joked that she hadn't answered a child actor's questions on set, and an edited clip of his remarks went round online. Some viewers accused her of snubbing the kid. She explained that she had to concentrate on emotionally heavy lines and the director's detailed instructions.
The child actress's mother then stepped in on Instagram. She called Lee's story a joke and said “she was kind”. She also pointed to an earlier post thanking Son for a Christmas toy. So the pile-on was about a clipped video, not conduct.
On the harm test, we found nothing. No anti-LGBTQ+ comments, no conspiracy theories, no culture-war posturing, and no dodgy co-stars or studios surfaced in the coverage we read. In 2018 she said she'd been following Me Too closely and called the women who spoke out brave. The record is thin on LGBTQ+ issues and climate, so it's a pass on what we found, not a gold star.
The giving is well documented. In 2020 she gave 100 million won to Daegu's Community Chest of Korea for COVID-19 prevention among low-income residents and for medical support. At the end of 2025 she and her husband, actor Hyun Bin, gave 200 million won to Samsung Medical Center in Seoul to help patients in financial hardship.
The recent noise is mostly small stuff. After her June win, her styling copped mixed reactions online, and she answered with a simple thank-you and some sticker-covered photos. In October, commenters picked at her home cooking, her Yokohama travel outfits and a cheese-stick mukbang video. That reads as people being rude about a woman's lunch, and one outlet said as much.