Blogged By: La Tray

Source & Credit: Manila Bulletin / DramaFever

Media Credit: Manila Bulletin via Dispatch and Newsen

Posted: Friday January 4, 2013 @11:07 p.m. PST

Hallyu pop star Rain and popular actress Kim Tae Hee have been revealed to be dating, creating a firestorm on Korean Internet portals and forums, and among fans.

The relationship between the two was revealed when online entertainment site Dispatch published photos of Rain, 31, and Kim Tae Hee, 33, dating.

The photos showed Rain in military uniform and the actress emerging from the latter’s car in Seoul. The two wore face masks to hide their identities.

Rain is currently fulfilling his mandatory military service and will be discharged on July 10 this year.

Rain and Kim Tae Hee first met when they worked together in a TV commercial in 2011.

Quoting Dispatch, newspaper Chosun Ilbo said Rain and Kim Tae Hee “started seeing each other after Rain actively courted Kim. They went out on dates in parks and in the car while covering their faces with their hats and masks.”

It added, “Rain and Kim met each other every Sunday in December after Rain finished a radio program he hosts for the Defense Media Agency. Kim mostly came to pick him up using her car.”

The report said the two spent Christmas together with Kim Tae Hee spending Dec. 23 and 24 at Rain’s house and leaving before midnight.

Kim Tae Hee’s agency has eventually confirmed that the two are dating.

“It is true the two have feelings for each other, and they are currently getting to know each other better. It’s been about a month since the relationship began. Because they are such well-known celebrities, there are few places they can meet in public and they also have little time to meet due to their busy schedules,” the Chosun Ilbo quoted Kim Tae Hee’s agency, Lua Entertainment, as saying.

Rain, who has a rank of a corporal and is the Korean military’s honorary ambassador, has enlisted in the army in October 2011.

On the other hand, Kim Tae Hee is one of Korea’s most popular stars and commercial endorsers. She gained fame after starring in the hit dramas “Stairway to Heaven” and “Love Story in Harvard.”

But while many are thrilled about the relationship, the issues of Rain’s alleged excessive vacation days and preferential treatment by the military have surfaced.

Netizens said that because of his celebrity status, Rain was given more vacation days than other soldiers.

Since enlisting in the military, Rain got 94 days of leave and vacations, more than the 30 days a corporal would get, according to newspaper Korea JoongAng Daily.

Korea’s Ministry of National Defense defended Rain’s vacation days, saying the singer is working in the military’s promotion department.

“Rain has been dispatched to serve in the military’s promotion department, and unlike others, soldiers there have a lot of preparations to do to stage performances around the country. It is natural that they need more leave from their barracks,” the newspaper quoted a Defense Ministry official as saying.

LINK: RAIN AND KIM TAE HEE INVESTIGATED