Seo In-young reveals why she didn't invite Jewelry bandmate Jo Min-ah to her wedding

Seo In-young, a former member of the K-pop group Jewelry, has explained why she did not invite her bandmate Jo Min-ah to her wedding three years ago.

The explanation came in a video titled "Why Seo In-young didn't invite only Jo Min-ah to her wedding," posted on Seo's YouTube channel "Gaegwacheonson Seo In-young." The video shows Seo visiting Jo at her home for a long-overdue reunion.

Seo recalled that Jo had looked out for her during their time together in Jewelry. "When I was keeping to myself and doing my own 'outcast act,' not even talking to the other members, Jo Min-ah came to my side and showed she cared about me," Seo said.

Jo recalled meeting Seo's mother for the first time. "She handed me a bill and said, 'Be close friends with my In-young,'" Jo said. "So I carried that bill around like a lucky charm and thought it was something I absolutely had to honor. I told myself I would stay by In-young's side and be a good friend to her."

The two drifted apart around 2023, when Seo got married. Seo's decision not to invite Jo to the wedding sparked rumors of a falling-out and speculation that Jo had been excluded from the group.

Seo addressed the situation directly. "People think something big happened back then," she said. Before the wedding, Jo had called her with reservations. "I had married someone who wasn't right for me in my first marriage. Jo Min-ah had a feeling about it — her instinct said it wasn't right. She told me, 'Isn't this too hasty?'"

Seo said she was hurt by the remark at the time. "After my mother passed away, I was struggling mentally and just wanted to hold on to marriage and live happily. I didn't have the emotional bandwidth to explain myself to Min-ah," she said. "What could have been resolved with a conversation just turned into 'I don't know, forget it.' Everything felt overwhelming — I thought I was going to lose my mind."

Seo called her own reaction "too childish" and apologized to Jo again.

Jo said she had dreamed of Seo's late mother around the time the wedding news broke. "In the dream, she was just crying," Jo said. "When Seo In-young told me the happy news, I was so worried — I think that's why I couldn't just offer congratulations."

Jo said she later came to understand her own misstep after hearing why she had not been invited. "I realized I had been immature," she said. "Even a song you love becomes grating if you hear it on repeat. Seo In-young just wanted to be congratulated, but I came at it too practically."

The two reconciled in June and released a video on YouTube showing them singing Jewelry's hit songs alongside other former members, drawing an outpouring of support from fans.

Seo's first marriage ended in divorce proceedings just six months after the wedding, and she finalized the divorce in November 2024.

Seo is set to remarry later this year, with her partner reported to be Choi Ji-hun, chief executive of content creative company NP.