Former supermodel Kim Ja-yeon, 45, has married Son Young-kwon, 70, a former president of Samsung Electronics who is 25 years her senior. The two first met as alumni of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and became a couple earlier this year.
On Sunday, Kim shared wedding photos on her social media along with a message saying she had long assumed she would spend her life alone, only to find her person well into her 40s after a long journey.
"My husband and I first met two years ago as sunbae and hoobae at MIT," she wrote. "At first we got to know each other naturally, with mutual respect as seniors and juniors, and we grew closer little by little as we spent more time together."
Son had been a sunbae Kim deeply admired, she said. As they spent more time together, they came to understand each other, and she said she opened her heart to his warm character and sincerity.
The wedding was held quietly at the Bürgenstock Hotel near Lake Lucerne in Switzerland, with only family in attendance. The venue is also known as the site where actor Audrey Hepburn married actor Mel Ferrer in 1954.
Born in 1981, Kim won the SBS Supermodel Contest in 2003. She went on to work in the international fashion industry and currently works as a trend analyst.
Son, born in 1956, served as president and chief strategy officer of Samsung Electronics. He currently chairs the Samsung Semiconductor Advisory Board and the board of Harman International.
choigo@heraldcorp.com
