“Rather than criticizing one another and arguing over who is to blame, both of us hope that the divorce process can be wrapped up smoothly,” a statement from the agency noted on his behalf.

“I will try to recover from the wounds and do my best to repay you through good productions as an actor.”

A few hours later, Hye-kyo, 38, said through her agency that the divorce was decided after “careful thinking.”

“The divorce proceedings between Joong-ki and Hye-kyo comes after careful thinking,” UAA Korea, the agency representing the actress said, adding that the marriage has come to an end due to irreconcilable differences.

The couple’s respective attorneys said the two stars are likely to settle without a trial. According to the lawyers, they have both agreed to divorce, but have disagreements as to details of the proceedings. They will attempt conciliation through the Seoul Family Court conciliation committee.

In the afternoon, actor Park Bo-gum, a close friend of Joong-ki, issued a statement through his agency that he is not related to the couple’s divorce. He was responding to rumors that he played a part in the couple’s divorce. Park starred in tvN romance drama “Boyfriend” with Hye-kyo from November to January.

The Songs, the two top stars of Asia, met on the KBS’ “Descendants of the Sun” drama series which ran from February to April 2016. They announced their engagement in July 2017 and tied the knot in October that year.

The wedding, which took place at The Shilla Seoul, grabbed attention across Asia. On the day, international media and fans who wanted to get a glimpse of what was billed the wedding of the century packed the venue.

Rumors regarding the couple’s troubles were reported by Chinese media when Hye-kyo was spotted without her wedding ring on multiple occasions. She had also deleted some photos of Joong-ki on her social media account.

Joong-ki, however, put a stop to the rumors when he was spotted wearing his wedding ring at a script reading session for tvN drama “Arthdal Chronicles.” He also mentioned his wife at a press conference for the drama in late May, saying that marriage has given him peace of mind.

Meanwhile, Joong-ki is currently starring in tvN’s fantasy drama “Arthdal Chronicles.” He plays two main characters, Eunseom and Saya.

As the Saturday-Sunday drama is a preproduced show, it will not be affected by the latest development concerning the star. The production team said it is currently working on editing the latter half of the series.

By Im Eun-byel (silverstar@heraldcorp.com)