Lee Hyori [JTBC 'Love War']
Lee Hyori [JTBC 'Love War']

A story about a four-year couple who gave each other permission to seek affairs outside the relationship due to sexual incompatibility left viewers stunned after airing on television.

The Tuesday episode of JTBC's entertainment program "Love War" featured the story of a four-year couple — dubbed the "ED couple" — struggling with conflict over sexual issues.

The girlfriend said on the show that she and her boyfriend were compatible in every way except one — "and that one thing is a very important issue" — before disclosing that her boyfriend had erectile dysfunction. The two also had mismatched sex drives, leaving them doubtful about whether they could continue the relationship at all.

The girlfriend had also been spreading details her boyfriend would find humiliating, including confiding in a hairdresser at a salon about the problem.

As tensions mounted, the boyfriend shocked the panel by telling his girlfriend to go outside the relationship to get her needs met.

The girlfriend said she had acted on that permission, carrying on a two-month "permitted affair" with a sunbae. The person she had the affair with was someone her boyfriend also knew, and that person was in a relationship of their own at the time.

Lee Hyori's expression hardened as she called the situation "bizarre." The girlfriend responded: "If there are a hundred people in the world, I think there are a hundred different shapes of love."

Seo Jang-hoon shot back: "This is not love. Don't be mistaken. Both of you, get your heads straight." He then said, "It seems like you're dressing up something nonsensical as love and getting comfortable and used to a familiar situation without being able to move on. The two of you are fundamentally incompatible. No matter how much the boyfriend permitted the affair, if you have feelings for someone else, you should break up first — and then look for love or a physical relationship."

When the moment came for each to make a final choice on whether to stay together or part ways, the boyfriend chose to continue the relationship — but the girlfriend ultimately chose to end it.


paq@heraldcorp.com