'KPop Demon Hunters' singer Lee Jae weds 9-year partner at her grandparents' former home

Couple married Saturday at Stage28 in Seoul; ceremony moved from California, brought forward by a month

Lee Jae walks down the aisle. [Lee Jae's Instagram]

Singer-songwriter Lee Jae (born Kim Eun-jae), who wrote and performed "Golden" — the theme song for the Netflix animated film "KPop Demon Hunters" — has married Samuel Kim, her partner of nine years. The ceremony was held on the grounds of the former home of her maternal grandfather, veteran actor Shin Young-kyun, and his wife.

According to Vogue, Lee and Samuel Kim wed Saturday at Stage28, an event venue in Godeok-dong, Gangdong-gu, Seoul. The couple had originally planned to marry in California next month, but moved the ceremony to Korea and brought the date forward by a month.

Their relationship began through music. In May 2017, a mutual acquaintance arranged a songwriting session at Samuel Kim's home studio. "We wrote a few songs together, but more than that, we just clicked," Lee told Vogue. "We both loved animation and had the same taste in music." The two, who had known each other only professionally, became a couple the night they attended a concert by a band that Samuel Kim's roommate played in — and it was Samuel Kim who confessed his feelings first that evening.

Over the next eight years, the couple lived together in Brooklyn, New York, each building their own music career. Samuel Kim, a producer by background, now works as a computer programmer. He proposed on June 1, 2025 — around the time "KPop Demon Hunters" was released and Lee rose to wider fame. In the film, Lee voiced Rumi, the lead vocalist of the girl group HUNTR/X, performing "Golden" and other key tracks. "Our lives completely changed," she said, looking back on that period. A packed promotional schedule and awards season forced the couple to put wedding planning on hold for a time.

"At first we wanted to get married in California in November 2026, but after talking through the venue we decided to do it in Korea and moved the date up to October," Lee explained. "That left us just about four months to plan everything." She added: "It was hectic and a little overwhelming, but we really became a team through it all, and everything fell perfectly into place."

A scene from the Netflix animated film "KPop Demon Hunters," alongside Lee Jae and her maternal grandfather, veteran actor Shin Young-kyun. [Lee Jae's social media · Yonhap]

The venue, Stage28, holds deep personal meaning for Lee. "My maternal grandparents lived here when I was little," she recalled. "I spent so much of my childhood wandering through the garden and walking the hill behind the house with my grandfather." The property was later converted into an event space and now houses the Shin Young-kyun Arts and Culture Foundation. Lee's older brother also held his wedding there.

The celebration opened with a traditional Korean wedding ceremony. The couple held a paebaek — a formal bow to family elders — and a welcome party at a hansik fusion restaurant overlooking the Seoul cityscape. "Not everyone does a paebaek, but I really wanted those traditional elements to be part of our wedding," Lee said.

The main ceremony took place in the garden at Stage28, decorated in shades of green and earth tones evoking Lee's childhood memories of the place. The reception followed in a large glass greenhouse on the same grounds. "The greenhouse represents my life now — the moment a long-held dream becomes real," Lee said. "After so many years devoted to music, finally receiving this kind of recognition makes everything feel like a dream."

Lee is a former SM Entertainment trainee and a songwriter whose credits include Red Velvet's "Psycho" and aespa's "Drama." "Golden," which she co-wrote, composed and performed, won Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 68th Grammy Awards in February and took the Best Original Song prize at the 98th Academy Awards in March. Two days before the wedding, on Thursday, Lee attended the 16th Beautiful Artist Awards ceremony — held at the same venue — alongside her grandfather Shin and Samuel Kim.

shee@heraldcorp.com