This list will include all known celebrity Korean and Black couples, past and present, even minor celebrities, and will include both full and partial Korean / Black couples. In the US, Korean and Black married couples are the second most prevalent Asian and Black marriage combination only after Filipino and Black marriages. The 2010 census showed that 15% of all Asian / Black marriages were with Koreans. Based on the celebrity Korean and Black couples shown here, the Korean / Black breakup rate is ~26% which is much lower than the US divorce rate of ~60%, and lower than the Korean divorce rate of ~35%. Please let us know of other celebrity Korean and Black couples that should be added to this list or known changes to the couples below and we will update the list accordingly. Listings for other celebrity Asian and Black couples are published separately and can be found at the end of this listing. Enjoy!

Celebrity Korean and Black Couples Listing

1. James Yates and InJa Yates



James Yates, African American / American Indian, and InJa Yates, Korean born in Japan, are founders of the Soul-2-Seoul scholarship foundation. They have been married since 1960 and have three children and seven grandchildren. Their foundation provides financial and academic assistance to deserving mixed race students who are working to bring unity and friendship among the diverse peoples within their respective communities. As of July 2016, they have awarded 27 scholarships of $2000 each to deserving students. They were featured in the documentary short film, Seoul II Soul, which was released in 1999 and can be viewed in the link. James is also a torch bearer for the Rio 2016 Olympics. Much love and respect to James and InJa for all that they have done to help promote diversity and unity in the world!

2. Sadikiel Kimaro and Young Kim Kimaro



Dr. Sadikiel Kimaro, Tanzanian, is the former Chairman of the Board for the Uchumi Bank in Moshi, Tanzania, the former head of the Tanzanian President’s Economic Policy Advisory Unit, and a former economist in the African Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He married his wife, Younghoy Kim Kimaro AKA Young Kim Kimaro, Korean, in 1970 while they were both pursuing their graduate degrees in the US. Young worked for over 30 years at both the IMF and the World Bank before retiring with Sadikiel to live on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. In retirement, she is busy in many civic activities in Tanzania in addition to writing a regular column for the Korea Times. Sadikiel and Young have 2 children together and their move back to Tanzania is chronicled in the documentary movie, A Lot Like You, which was written, directed, and produced by their daughter, Eliaichi Kimaro. See more on our post on Asian and Black Couples in the Movies.

3. Redd Foxx and Yun Chi Chung



Redd Foxx was a legendary African American comedian who is best known for his trailblazing explicit comedy records and his TV sitcom “Sanford and Son”. Redd was married four times and his last two wives were both Korean. He married Yun Chi Chung in 1976 and divorced her in 1981. Apparently cultural differences regarding food played a part in the divorce.

4. Redd Foxx and Ka Ho Cho Foxx



In 1991, at the age of 69, Redd Foxx married Ka Ho Cho only 3 months before his unexpected death. After his divorce with his prior wife, Foxx’s lavish lifestyle and poor money management caught up with him and he filed for bankruptcy in 1983 with the IRS eventually seizing most all of his assets. Redd credits Kaho with being one of the few people that stuck with him through all of his financial difficulties and he expressed a tremendous love for Kaho during their brief marriage together.

5. Dr. Tyrone Hayes and Dr. Kathy Kim



Dr. Tyrone Hayes, African American, is a renowned biologist, herpetologist, and biology professor at UC Berkeley and is known for his scientific breakthroughs related to frogs. Since 1994, he has been married to Dr. Kathy Kim, Korean, who is an Assistant Professor at UC Davis, and they have two children together.

6. Kyung-bae Park and Insooni



Kim In-Soon (Korean: 김인순), better known by her stage name, Insooni (Korean: 인순이), is a biracial (Korean/African American) South Korean singer. She made her debut in 1978 in the group “Hee Sisters (Korean: 희자매)”. Since then, she has recorded a total of 19 albums and is considered South Korea’s acclaimed R&B diva with a wide range of fans. She has also earned several top prizes at broadcasters’ annual award ceremonies. In 2011, Insooni founded the Hae Mil School in Hongcheon, in the Gangwon province, for biracial and multicultural Korean students. The school started it’s first year of classes in 2013, and provides a positive environment for Korean biracial and multiracial children to combat the bullying and prejudice that Insooni faced growing up in Korea. In 1994, Insooni married Kyung-bae Park (Korean) who was a professor at Kyunghee University, and is now a professional golfer on the Champions Tour of the Korean Professional Golf Association. They have one daughter together.

7. Tiki Barber and Ginny Cha



Tiki Barber, an African American retired NFL running back with the NY Giants (and the identical twin brother of Ronde Barber, also former NFL), was married to Ginny Cha, who is mixed Korean and Vietnamese, from 1999 to 2010 and they have four kids together. Unfortunately, he left his then 8 month pregnant wife with twins for a young white intern at NBC where he was working at the time – very messy.

8. Sugar Shane Moseley and Jin Sheehan



Sugar Shane Mosley, an African American retired professional boxer who held 3 different world boxing titles was married to Jin Sheehan, Korean Irish, from 2002 to 2010 and they have 3 kids together.

9. Wesley Snipes and Nakyung “Nikki” Park Snipes



Wesley Snipes, African American, and his lovely wife, Nakyung “Nikki” Park, Korean. They met in 2000, married in 2003, and have 4 children together. Wesley is a well-known actor, film producer, and martial artist who began his acting career in 1986. Recently he has appeared in Chi-raq, but he has numerous awards for his very memorable roles in Demolition Man, One Night Stand, New Jack City, and Blade. Wesley holds a 5th degree black belt in Shotokan karate, and a 2nd degree black belt in Hapkido, a Korean martial art. Wesley and Nikki spend as much time as they can in South Korea, which Wesley considers his second home.

10. Big Mama King (BMK) and Maxey Larry Derrelle



BMK, aka Big Mama King, aka Kim Hyun-jung (김현정), Korean, and her husband, Maxey Larry Derrelle, African American. BMK is said to be one of the most popular soul and jazz singers in all of Korea and she has been producing music since 2003. She met her husband, an US Army pilot stationed in Korea in 2007 and they married in 2011. Check out one of BMK’s most popular songs here. We love this couple and wish them much love and happiness forever!

11. David Alan Grier and Christine Kim



David Alan Grier is an African American actor and comedian. He is best known for his roles on the TV series “In Living Color” and the movie “Peeples”. Grier was married to museum curator Christine Y. Kim, Korean from 2007 to 2009 and they have one daughter together.

12. Christopher Scott and Eugenie Woo



Congrats to Christopher “Chris” Scott, African American, and his wife, Eugenie Woo, Korean, on Chris finishing in 5th place out of 19 world class chefs on season 15 of Top Chef, one of the premier chef competitions for chefs around the world. Chris and Eugenie, who is also an accomplished chef, are co-owners of two Brooklyn restaurants, Butterfunk Kitchen and Brooklyn Commune, both of which have numerous accolades and recognition. We wish Chris and Eugenie continued success, love and happiness. Many blessings!

13. Hansen Clarke and Choi Palms-Cohen



Hansen Clarke, biracial African American and Bangladeshi, is a former US Congressman from the State of Michigan from 2011 to 2013. He was born and raised on the east side of Detroit, one of the rougher neighborhoods there, and he still lives there today with his wife, Choi Palms-Cohen, a Korean adoptee. He is currently a law professor at the University of Detroit.

14. Tiger JK and Yoon Mi Rae



Natasha “Tasha” Shanta Reid, better known by her Korean name, Yoon Mi Rae, is a popular biracial African American & Korean American hip hop / R&B singer and rapper who lives in Korea with her husband, Tiger JK, a Korean rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur best known as one of the founding members of the trail blazing Korean hip hop group Drunken Tiger. They have one child together.

15. James Woods and Lily J. Lee



From the blogging world, Lily J. Lee, is the founder and a leading Blasian youtuber at Lily Petals World with over 310,000 subscribers and 55 million video views currently. Lily is Korean and became widely viewed after her video entitled “Why I Love Black Men” went viral. Her husband, James Woods, is Kenyan and he keeps a lower profile, but has been more involved in the channel lately. They have been married since 2009 and have two beautiful daughters together.

16. David Yoon and Nicola Yoon



Nicola Yoon, Jamaican American, is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the 2015 novel turned 2017 movie, Everything, Everything. Her husband, David Yoon, Korean American, was the illustrator for Nicola’s novel and he is the creator of a line of custom notebooks. Nicola’s 2016 novel, The Sun Is Also A Star, was a national book award finalist and features a Blasian couple (Jamaican American woman and Korean American man) similar to Nicola and David. Much continued success to David and Nicola!

17. Tony Akins and Mina Akins



Tony Akins aka 전태풍 (Chon Tae-Poong), bi-racial Korean and African American, is a professional basketball player in the Korean Basketball League (KBL) with the Busan Sonic Boom KT team. Tony has played professional basketball in both Europe and Asia and he was the #1 draft pick in the 2009 KBL Ethnic Draft which was established to give mixed blood Korean basketball players of foreign nationality a chance to play in the KBL without being counted as foreigners. He first met his wife Mina Akins, also bi-racial Korean and African American, in Los Angeles in the 90s, but did not reconnect with her until much later when they were both living in Korea and they married in 2010.

18. Lenny Nicholson and Ameriie



Amerie Mi Marie Rogers, AKA Amerie, AKA Ameriie, Korean and African American, is an American recording artist, record producer and actress. She started her music career in 2001 and has also done work in television and movies. In 2004, she started dating her manager, Lenny Nicholson, African American who she married in 2011. Her website, ameriie.com, and her Youtube channel, Books Beauty Ameriie, are both very well done and give lots of details about her various projects.

19. Kevin Johnson and Michelle Rhee Johnson



Kevin Johnson, African American, is currently the mayor of Sacramento, the state capital of California. Johnson is also a former NBA star who was a 3 time NBA All Star with the Phoenix Suns. His wife, Michelle Rhee, is the former Chancellor of the District of Columbia School System and founded the nonprofit group, StudentsFirst. She is currently the Chairperson of St. Hope Public Schools, a charter school chain run by her husband. She is Korean-American and they have been married since 2011.

20. Anderson Paak and Jae Lin Paak



Anderson Paak, AKA Brandon Paak Anderson, AKA Breezy Lovejoy, AKA Anderson .Paak, is a breakout neo-soul and R&B artist who has produced collaborations with Dr. Dre, The Game, Omarion, and several other name artists. His father is African American and his mother is Korean and African American. In 2011, he married his second wife, Jae Lin, who was a Korean vocal student at Musicians Institute in Hollywood where Anderson was a teaching assistant. They have one son together. Learn more about Anderson at andersonpaak.com.

21. Eugene Jang and Ilia Calderon



Ilia Calderon is an Afro-Colombian award winning journalist and Univision news anchor. She married Eugene Jang, a Korean physical therapist in 2012 and they have one beautiful daughter together.

22. Eddie Griffin and Ko Griffin



Eddie Griffin, African American megastar comedian, with his wife, Ko Griffin, Korean American, who is a successful business owner on her own. They have been together since 2012, and Eddie says, “She keeps me smiling so I can keep y’all laughing!” We wish them both many more smiles and much happiness forever!

23. Metta World Peace and Maya Ford



Metta World Peace, formerly known as Ron Artest is an African American professional basketball player. Artest played on the championship Lakers team and is a one time NBA All-Star. He most recently played professional basketball overseas in China and Italy and in September 2015, he signed a one year contract to play for the LA Lakers again. He has been dating Maya Ford, a Korean Canadian professional model since 2012.

24. Hill Harper and Chloe Flower



Hill Harper is an African American actor and author best known for his character on the television show “CSI”. His girlfriend, Chloe Flower, Korean, is a classical pianist and human rights activist. They have been dating since 2012.

25. Trenton Doyle Hancock and JooYoung Choi



Trenton Doyle Hancock, African American, and his wife JooYoung Choi, Korean American, are both critically acclaimed American artists! Trenton makes prints, videos, drawings, sculptures, individual performances, and collaged felt paintings. He is well known for his artwork featuring the Mounds and the Vegans, two opposing forces that he created that represent the eternal battle between good and evil. Trenton has won numerous awards over the years and he was one of the youngest artists to ever be featured in the prestigious Whitney Biennial when he was selected in 2000 for the first time. His work has appeared in numerous exhibitions, storybooks, a mural at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, and even a ballet. JooYoung is equally talented with her artwork through paintings, video, sculpture, animation, music, and installation art multidisciplinary world-building. She is famous for creating a theme she calls the Cosmic Womb, which is semiautobiographical representing her experience as a Korean adoptee in the US. Her artwork has been shown globally in numerous exhibits and media outlets including the Asian Pacific American Experience, the National Museum of Mexican Art, and the Korean Global News Network. Trenton and JooYoung met in 2012 and married in 2016. We wish them continued success and a lifetime of love and eternal blessings!

See more about JooYoung at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxvhStJxfgjZkKi7mxbSGYw

26. The Dream and Lydia Seung Nam



Terius Youngdell Nash better known by his stage name The Dream, is an African American R&B and pop record producer and singer-songwriter. He is known for co-writing many successful songs, including “Me Against the Music” for Britney Spears, “Umbrella” for Rihanna, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” for Beyoncé and “Baby” for Justin Bieber, as well as for his own acclaimed releases as a solo artist. He was engaged briefly to Lydia Seung Nam, Korean-Canadian, who is the mother of his fifth child, but they have since broke off the engagement.

27. Terrence Howard and Mira Pak



Terrence Howard is an African American actor and singer who was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in the movie “Hustle and Flow”. He is currently starring in the hit TV show “Empire”. Terrence is multi-generational African American and European American biracial – both his parents are African American and European American biracial. He married Mira Cristine Pak, Korean Canadian, a restaurant owner in SoCal and a former model in Vancouver in October 2013. Their first child together was born in May 2015, just before court documents revealed that Terrence and Mira legally divorced in July 2015. While they were divorced, Terrence and Mira stayed together as a couple and welcomed a second child together in 2016. On Christmas of 2018, Terrence announced his 2nd engagement to Mira, saying that it took him 45 years to find Mira, but that he now plans to spend eternity at her side. This will be Terrence’s fifth wedding and 3rd wife as he was married to his first wife two times as well. We wish Terrence and Mira all the best in their 2nd marriage and continuation of their love relationship. Terrence was previously married to a biracial Filipino and white woman and had a 12-year relationship with a Chinese lady. See more in this post about Terrence’s relationships with Asian women.

28. Dom and Hyo



Dominic “Dom” Dinkins, African American, and Hyosun “Hyo” Park, Korean, better known as Dom & Hyo, are the creators of the Dom&Hyo webtoon and blog about an African American guy and Korean girl and their life in Korea which discusses cross cultural dating in Korea along with Korean culture, food, and language. The webtoon series is very well done (see the attached sample) and they have a large following online. They have been together since 2011 and they married in 2015.

29. Matt Brooks and Glory Kim



Also from the YouTube world, Matt Brooks, African American, and Glory Kim, Korean, are the founders of the very funny and very popular YouTube channel, Slice N Rice, with over 1 million subscribers and 55 million video views worldwide. Matt and Glory have also been featured in a prior ABC article at this link. Slice and Rice are absolutely perfect together and they are bonafide stars in the making! They have been together since 2014 and were married in 2019. We wish them continued success and many blessings!

30. Kadir Nelson and Dr. Jungmiwha Bullock



Say hello to Kadir Nelson, award-winning African American illustrator, artist and his wife, Dr. Jungmiwha “Jummy” Bullock, AfrAm & Korean social, political, and behavioral scientist. Kadir’s work is often focused on African American culture and history and has been featured in the Speilburg movie, “Amistad”, the TV series “Fresh Prince of LA”, the movie “Friday”, as well as the US House of Representatives, the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the US Postal Office Museum, and the International Olympic Committee in Switzerland. Kadir’s artwork has been featured in numerous national exhibitions globally and can also be found in the private art collections of Debbie Allen, Jalen Rose, Spike Lee, Terry Lewis, Venus Williams, Will Smith and Ice Cube. Jummy holds advanced degrees from USC, NYU, and Penn State and she is an expert in social sciences, diversity outreach, international communication, and educational equality. Her work has appeared in several global news outlets and her acclaimed children’s book “Am I Half Giraffe?” is the first children’s book written in 5 different languages. See more about Kadir at his website and more about Jummy at her website. We wish Kadir and Jummy continued success and much love and blessings forever!

31. Rob and Young Bae



From the VH-1 show, Black Ink Crew, it’s Young Bae, Korean, and her fiance, Rob, AfrAm. Young Bae immigrated to NYC from Korea in 2007 with only $80 speaking very little English. She worked odd jobs and ultimately landed a job as a tattoo artist based on her extensive art education at South Korea’s Chugye University for the Arts. Rob is an electrician and after dating for a little over a year, Rob asked Young Bae to marry him in Times Square in December of 2017. Rob and Young Bae welcomed a son together in May of 2018. Unfortunately since then, Rob and Young Bae broke up and Young Bae is looking for a new guy now.

32. Teddy Ruks and Euni



Congratulations to Teddy Ruks, AfrAm tattoo artist and co-star from the “Black Ink Crew” reality television series and his GF/wifey, Euni, Korean American. Teddy and Euni recently premiered their relationship in the latest episode of “Black Ink Crew”, but several outlets claim that Teddy and Euni have been together since 2018 and supposedly were married in late 2019. Teddy does not deny the marriage and admits that he sees Euni as his wife either now or in the future. We wish Teddy and Euni incredible love, joy, and happiness. Many blessings!

Listings for other celebrity Asian and Black couples are published separately and can be found in these links:

Also see more committed Asian and Black couples here.