How Kang Dong-won’s surprising family ties connect him to Gong Yoo and Gong Hyo-jin

On the episode of tvN’s ‘Yoo Quiz on the Block’ that aired on the 13th, Kang Dong-won appeared and talked about his family.

On this day, Kang Dong-won said, “I have one older sister who is two years older than me,” and he opened up about his family by saying, “I get along very well with my sister. She has always thought I was cute. She used to hold my hand and take me around when we were young.”

However, Kang Dong-won also mentioned that he occasionally argued with his sister, saying, “Both of us were in a taekwondo academy, and there was a time when we fought, and glass windows were shattered.”

Furthermore, Kang Dong-won revealed that his nephew is a national soccer player, saying, “FC Seoul Youth’s Choi Jun-young.” Kang Dong-won’s nephew, Choi Jun-young from FC Seoul, won the U18 Championship and also received the Best Young Player Award last year.

With the revelation of Kang Dong-won’s unexpected family relationships, attention has been drawn to his relationship with actor Gong Yoo.

It turns out that the two actors are related by marriage, which surprised many. The grandfathers of the two actors, who were close friends from a young age, married each other’s children before Gong Yoo and Kang Dong-won were born. This made Gong Yoo and Kang Dong-won’s parents brothers and sisters-in-law, creating a family relationship.

In fact, director Yeon Sang-ho, who worked on ‘Train to Busan’ with Gong Yoo, recommended casting Kang Dong-won in the director’s subsequent film ‘Peninsula.’

Additionally, actors Gong Yoo and Gong Hyo-jin share the same family name, Gong. Gong Yoo is the 79th generation, and Gong Hyo-jin is the 81st generation in their family lineage, making Gong Yoo like a grandfather to Gong Hyo-jin. The reason these two actors, who are currently active in their careers, don’t face dating rumors even when filming romance movies together is because of this family connection.

Source