Koo Jun-yup visits late wife Xu Xiyuan's grave, says he won't return to Korea

Koo Jun-yup and the late Xu Xiyuan. [Instagram]

Korean singer Koo Jun-yup visited the grave of his late wife, Taiwanese actor Xu Xiyuan, and firmly stated he has no plans to return to Korea.

According to Taiwan's Yiping News and other outlets, Koo visited Xu's grave at Jinbaoshan in New Taipei City on Wednesday — what would have been her 48th birthday. He began preparing at around 9 a.m.

Despite the rain, he set up an umbrella and chairs and decorated the grave with pink flowers, Xu's favorite. After fans who had come to pay their respects left, Koo was seen gazing at photos and videos of himself and Xu together.

He wept for some time, unable to hold back his emotions. Around noon, Xu's mother, older sister and younger sister, along with actor Chen Jianzhou, singer Pan Weichi and other family members and close friends, arrived at the grave.

They wore pink-toned clothing — a color Xu had loved in life — and brought cake and champagne. The group sat around the grave, sharing stories and shedding tears. About two hours later, the family and friends departed, but Koo stayed behind alone.

Dressed in a raincoat, he tidied up the tablet, leftover cake, chairs and umbrella himself before leaving.

Koo Jun-yup with the family of the late Xu Xiyuan. [Captured from Xu Xijie's SNS]

When asked at the scene to express his feelings for Xu, Koo replied in English: "I just still love her."

Asked whether he planned to return to Korea to live or to be with his mother, he answered with a firm, single word: "No."

When asked whether Xu appears in his dreams, he said, "Of course."

Earlier, Xu's younger sister Xu Xijie had shared photos taken at the grave with family and friends on SNS on Tuesday.

"Today is my sister's birthday, so of course I came to celebrate it," she wrote. "I sat beside her, crying and laughing, and talked about our stories and how much we miss her."

Xu Xiyuan rose to fame in Korea through the Taiwanese drama series "Meteor Garden," the local adaptation of the Japanese manga "Boys Over Flowers," in which she played the lead role of Shancai.

Koo met Xu in Taiwan in 1998, and the two became a couple before parting ways after about a year due to the difficulties of a long-distance relationship. They reunited in 2021 and married the following year.

Their marriage, however, was short-lived. Xu died suddenly of acute pneumonia while traveling in Japan in February last year. She was 48.

yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com