Singer and model Harisu, South Korea's first transgender star, and her husband, Mickey Jung, divorced after ten years of marriage.
Harisu, real name Lee Kyung-yeop, was born as a male but identified herself as female. After undergoing sex reassignment and plastic surgery, she rose to fame after starring in a cosmetics commercial in 2002.
In May 2007, she and Micky Jung, a rapper, got married after two years of dating. Harisu became the voice of transgender people in Korea.
According to a report by Ilgan Sports, "Lee and Jung agreed to a divorce after suffering from economic difficulties about a month ago," according to the Korea JoongAng Daily.
But Harisu took to social media to deny that it was the reason for their divorce.
"The news that reported our divorce said we went our separate ways due to my husband's business failure," she wrote on Instagram. "However, that wasn't the cause, so stop jumping to conclusions. We maintained a good relationship through our marriage and we still follow each other on Instagram. Please stop with the slander."
Jung reasoned that they divorced because of his numerous trips abroad.
"I had many businesses, and the results weren't always positive. Since I had to leave the country numerous times due to business, we didn't have an opportunity to talk a lot. Like the phrase, 'out of sight, out of mind,' we naturally started talking about a divorce," he said, the report added.
Harisu's music career consisted of five albums such as "Temptation," "Liar," "Harisu" "and Summer." Her films and dramas include "Yellow Hair 2," Hi! Honey" and "Possessed."
"Temptation" was her debut album that was released in September 2001 while "Yellow Hair 2" was her first starring role.
The two were planning to adopt children during their marriage but opted not to.
