Monday morning started out normally for many Kpop fans until Dispatch released an exclusive report that took everyone by surprise. Many had not been anticipating the couple they revealed.

So far many reports about the couple relationship have emerged and more interesting details are being released by various media outlets. In this article, I shall summarize the most interesting aspects about the hottest new Kpop couple.

TWICE Jihyo is Kang Daniel senior in the industry

Kang Daniel was born in 1996 while TWICE Jihyo was born in 1997, he’s older than her and she probably calls him ‘oppa,’ but they likely met as sunbae-hoobae at first.

Jihyo debuted as a part of TWICE back in 2015 while Kang Daniel debuted as part of Wanna One back in 2017. This makes Jihyo his senior in the industry.

The unlikely link that set the couple up is 2AM Seulong

In Dispatch’s original report, it was mentioned that a particular senior Kpop idol was the link between them both and the man who set them up.

Later, SpoTV News reported that 2AM Seulong is that mysterious link. 2AM Seulong debuted as a part of 2AM back in 2008 while Jihyo had joined in 2005; the two spent about three years as trainees together.

Various industry insiders reported that Seulong is an idol that Kang Daniel follows and trust, this is expected to be how Seulong became the link between the hot new couple.

Many saw Jihyo outside Daniel’s apartment

After the news came out, various witnesses who lived in UN Village, the same luxury apartment complex that Kang Daniel lives in, said that they spotted Jihyo recycling the garbage outside the apartment.

A building manager told news outlets that he saw Jihyo sorting out empty delivery food containers and alcohol bottles. A resident told news outlets that Daniel would have Jihyo and other people at his house and their get-togethers would get very loud.

The dating news was supposed to be out on July 20?

Fans have been referring to the original Dispatch article on their website and have noticed something that’s very interesting.

To those who are unaware, Korean articles show the original publish date plus the date of when the article was last edited. If you take a look at the original Dispatch article you’ll find that the original publish date was July 20^th which is roughly 15 days ago.

This led fans to believe that Dispatch intended to post about the dating news ahead of Daniel’s solo debut which could have negatively impacted his successful debut.

He went on to close to 500K in albums with his solo debut if the news had been released before his solo debut he would have probably never reached that number.

Jihyo is the first of her group to confirm dating news

TWICE is South Korea’s IT group. All eyes were on the group since its inception to its success. JYP imposes a dating ban on all their idols for the first three years after debut. TWICE debuted in 2015 and their dating ban officially expired in October of 2018.

Since then, many have been speculating about the type of dating news the members would get into. Jihyo is the first of her group to be publicly involved in dating news and the first to also confirm she’s dating.

Despite TWICE’s huge popularity, the members have kept their private lives very private and away from the limelight. Fans wonder if this signals more dating news of TWICE to come in the future.

Kang Daniel is also the first former Wanna One member to confirm he’s dating.

How the public is reacting

Since both are high profile idols backlash was expected by Korean netizens. Idol dating is frowned upon in South Korea and idols are expected to be those innocent entertaining idols who love their fans too much to think about anything else besides working hard.

While the magnitude of the dating news will not hit until later on, so far, the public is split. Some are in favor of the couple while others are shocked that he dated during his ongoing legal dispute and while preparing for his solo debut.

On the other hand, international fans are mostly shocked but happy for the unexpected couple.