Singer-actor Lee Joon, formerly of MBLAQ, revealed he once ended a relationship over a clash about marriage.
On the July 7 episode of JTBC's variety show Love War, Lee Joon appeared as a special guest. The episode spotlighted a couple in conflict: she wants marriage, while he is preparing for a working-holiday abroad.
In this couple's story, the girlfriend had long harbored feelings for her boyfriend, who was her older brother's close friend, and after years they finally began dating.
The problem started when the boyfriend began preparing for a working holiday in Australia. Feeling anxious, the girlfriend asked, "Do I fit into your future?" She added, "I can wait up to a year, but not longer," and pressed him for a clear commitment to marriage. The boyfriend, however, felt burdened, saying it was too early to promise marriage when the exact length of his working holiday wasn't even set.
Watching this, Lee Joon strongly sympathized with the boyfriend's position. "I understand exactly how a man feels—100%," he said. "I've been in that situation quite a few times myself."
When Lee Hyori asked, "Did you have a girlfriend who pressured you to get married?" Lee Joon answered candidly, "Some girlfriends did want marriage. I understood how they felt, but every time the topic came up, it felt like my chest was tightening." He continued, "If it becomes nothing but marriage, marriage, marriage, the pressure only grows. I actually once broke up after being pushed about marriage—I said, 'I'm not going to get married, so let's just break up,' and we ended it."
Lee Joon said he believes it's better to be honest than to make promises you can't keep. "Trying to protect the current relationship by making promises you can't keep is unfair to both the man and the woman," he explained. "Saying you'll marry someone just to get through the moment is irresponsible."
Lee Joon debuted in 2008 and remains active to this day. In 2018, he publicly dated Jung So-min, whom he met through the KBS2 drama My Father is Strange, but they broke up in 2020.