Lee Jung Jae Admits To Dating Heiress But Denies Insider Trading

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Lee Jung Jae

Actor Lee Jung Jae has admitted to dating heiress Lim Se Ryung but he denies that his relationship led to any insider trading.

Through a press release from his agency CJeS, the award-winning actor admitted to dating Lim, an executive board member at Daesang Group and the ex-wife of the Samsung Group heir. The press release followed coverage in the media outlet, Dispatch.

On Dec. 16 Dispatch reporters saw the couple enjoying brunch at a restaurant owned by Lim Se Ryung. After the brunch, they were then seen heading toward Lee Jung Jae's home.  The media outlet's reporters say they saw Lim Se Ryung visiting Lee Jung Jae's home more than three times in a week.

Lee Jung Jae and Lim Se Ryung have denied being romantically involved for the past five years. When they were seen leaving for the Philippines together in 2010 they said it was a business trip. They threatened to sue the media for spreading unfounded rumors. This week they confirmed that they were now in a romantic relationship.

"The two have been friends for a long time," said a press release by his agency, CJeS. "There was a rumor that the two have been in love since 2010 but they were nothing more than friends then."

The couple met through Lee Jung Jae's former girlfriend, actress Kim Min Hee. When they first met, Lim Se Ryung was married to Lee Jae Yong, the vice-chairman of Samsung Group. Lim has two children with Lee Jae Young but the couple divorced in 2009.

While the press release did confirm the relationship, it denied allegations of insider trading that were rumored to result from the relationship.

Rumors suggested that Lim advised Lee Jung Jae to invest in a Tong Yang, a troubled conglomerate. According to the Korea Herald, the actor allegedly took out a loan of $27 million in 2009 to invest in the construction of a Gangnam building. It was alleged that he pulled his money out of the project, which financially damaged the group and led to their bankruptcy. In 2013 the company failed to pay back almost $100 million in debt and went into receivership. Tens of thousands of individual investors lost money.

But the actor's agency said those rumors have no basis in fact. According to his agency Lim never introduced him to the Tong Yang family. Nor did the actor pull out his money, causing others to suffer losses. The actor suffered financial losses as everyone else did.

"Lee never got his investment totaling $900,000 back from Tong Yang," said the CJeS release.

Lee Jung Jae appeared in the films "The Thieves," "New World," 'Big Match" and "Face Reader." His last drama appearance was in "Triple" in 2009.

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