Yoo Min, 13 years after stepping back from Korea, opens up about lonely days and Kim Dong-ryul concerts

A concert 13 years in the making

Yoo Min stepped away from Korean activities after Iris 2 in 2013. On October 26, the 47-year-old Japanese actress posted about attending a concert by Korean ballad singer Kim Dong-ryul—something she said she had always wanted to do at least once in her life.

"When it comes to autumn in Korea, it's definitely ballad," she wrote. "It was a truly happy time."

She looked back at 2001, when she lived in Korea and felt lonely. Music videos helped. "Even on lonely days, I found comfort watching various music videos and studied Korean," she wrote. She was especially drawn to Kim Dong-ryul's "Let's Say We Love Again" (다시 사랑한다 말할까)—that era of Korean MVs, she noted, were "produced grandly like movies."

From MBC dramas to a 13-year pause

Yoo Min first came to Korea in 2001 through the MBC drama Our House (우리집). She appeared in All In (올인) and Life is Beautiful (인생은 아름다워). Variety shows like Kang Ho-dong's Destined Couple (강호동의 천생연분) and X-Man (X맨) built her following. Iris 2 in 2013 marked the end of her Korean run. She shifted entirely to Japan, married a non-celebrity Japanese man in 2018, and has one son.

The concert landed differently. "Kim Dong-ryul is someone who creates songs connected to memories in a person's life, so they are all masterpieces," she wrote. "Even though it was a few days ago, the lingering feeling remains. It became an unforgettable precious autumn."