Model-actor Jang Yoon-ju says she has moved to Britain with family
In short
Model and actor Jang Yoon-ju said she has started living in Britain with her family after about three years of deliberation, following her husband Jung Seung-min's decision to study design abroad. She said she is not leaving Korea for good and will travel back when she has work, and that both she and her husband feel anxious as well as excited. The documents do not name the British city or the school her husband will attend.
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Jang Yoon-ju, a model and actor, said she has started living in Britain with her family as her husband begins graduate studies there. She announced the move in a video on her YouTube channel, “Yunjour Jang Yoon-ju”, posted on Oct. 3 under a title about coming to Britain after three years of agonising. Dong-A Ilbo reported that the move began with her husband's long-held dream; Hankook Ilbo reported that it started about three years ago, when her husband, Jung Seung-min, said he wanted to study again. [ 1 , 2 ]
Hankook Ilbo reported that Jung, who wanted to study design more seriously, took online classes after work for a year and studied for the TOEFL on his own, and was accepted to the school he most wanted. Jang said she had spent two to three years telling him she would not go — “I'm not going, you go alone” — before deciding that if she did not go now she never would. She said she is not leaving Korea for good and will travel back when she has work. [ 1 , 2 ]
Both said they felt anxious as well as excited. Jang said her husband also worried about completing a master's programme in English, and that he told her they would adapt quickly once there. She said language is a big barrier for her too, and that as the departure approached she felt strange about it. Dong-A Ilbo reported that she described having to live in Britain for a long time as unsettling in various ways. [ 1 , 2 ]
Jang said she wants to use the time in Britain to learn English and to live there rather than only travel, and to look for work she can devote herself to, saying that if something stirs in her again she will try it then. Urged to try modelling again, she said she is honestly not confident. She also described hearing friends say they feel listless and have nothing they want to do, and said she seems to have reached that age herself. [ 2 ]
Why it matters
The story is a celebrity personal-life item: a well-known model and actor is stepping back from work in Korea for a family move abroad, and says she wants to find new work there. Nothing in the documents points to wider consequences beyond her own career and the family's life.
Key facts
- Jang Yoon-ju, a model and actor, said she has begun living in Britain with her family. [ 1 , 2 ]
- She said the decision came after about three years of deliberation, during which she repeatedly told her husband she would not go. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Her husband, Jung Seung-min, wanted to study design more seriously; he took online classes after work for a year and studied for the TOEFL on his own, and was accepted to the school he most wanted. [ 2 ]
- Dong-A Ilbo reported that the move began with her husband's long-held dream of studying again. [ 1 ]
- She said she is not leaving Korea permanently and will travel back when she has work. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Both said they were anxious as well as excited, and her husband said he worried about completing a master's programme in English. [ 1 , 2 ]
- She said she wants to learn English in Britain, live there rather than only travel, and find work she can devote herself to. [ 2 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- Which city in Britain the family moved to, and which school her husband was accepted to The Dong-A Ilbo summary and the Hankook Ilbo article name neither a city nor a school, and the Seoul Shinmun item is a headline only.
- How long the family plans to stay in Britain Dong-A Ilbo says she is uneasy about having to live in Britain for a long time, but no duration is given.
- What work Jang Yoon-ju will take up in Britain She says only that she wants to find something she can devote herself to, without naming any plan.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Dong-A Ilbo reports that Jang Yoon-ju said she has begun living in Britain with her family after deliberating for about three years, in a video she posted on her YouTube channel on Oct. 3. [ 1 ]
- Hankook Ilbo publishes a fuller account, including her husband Jung Seung-min's year of preparation and acceptance to the school he most wanted, and that the family is not leaving Korea for good. [ 2 ]
- Seoul Shinmun reports, in a headline, that Jang Yoon-ju left Korea after three years of deliberation. [ 3 ]