Do we like Song Joong-ki?
Our score: 8 out of 10. No harmful words or company found, a long record of mostly quiet giving, and one 2023 remark he apologised for.
Song Joong-ki is one of Korea's biggest TV stars. He broke through on the historical and romance dramas of the 2010s, hit a global peak with Descendants of the Sun, then reinvented himself with the deadpan anti-hero in Vincenzo (2021). He followed it with Reborn Rich, though his film Bogotá flopped.
The messiest chapter was his 2019 divorce from his Descendants of the Sun co-star Song Hye-kyo. Reports at the time said he filed without consulting her first, and fans split over who to blame. A co-star, Park Bo-gum, was dragged into online chatter and had to publicly deny any involvement. It was a fandom brawl more than anything he was charged with, and his career recovered.
On the harm check, the record is thin in a good way. We found no statements from him against LGBTQ+ people, migrants or climate action, no conspiracy-theory slide and no run of questionable co-stars. The one real stain is a 2023 interview with a Chinese outlet, where he suggested marriage and fatherhood had cost him work. Many read that as dismissive of the career pressures on women in the industry. He said at a press event he learned of the backlash from friends and that he would be more careful.
The recent thing is small. In October 2026 a clip circulated of him greeting fans overseas when a bystander described him as Song Hye-kyo's former husband. He appeared to frown briefly before smiling again, and the outlet itself said it was unconfirmed whether he heard the remark. It's hardly a scandal, and he handled it politely. Work-wise, he is booked for the KBS rom-com Love Cloud, his first KBS drama in about a decade, due in the first half of 2027.
On the nice side, we found no court cases and no credible accounts of him treating co-stars or staff badly. In an old interview he said he tries to stay true to himself, and the record we found fits that. Some tabloid-style rumours have circulated over the years; we left out anything only gossip sites carry. The 2023 comment is the one blot, and he owned it.