DJ Koo to inherit one-third of late Barbie Hsu's wealth

By KTimes

DJ Koo (Koo Jun-yup), the Korean singer and husband of late Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu, is set to inherit one-third of her wealth under Taiwanese law.

Taiwanese media outlets, including China Times, said on Monday that her assets, estimated at 600 million yuan (1.2 trillion won, or $820 million), will be equally divided among Koo and her two children.

However, since her children are still minors, their inheritance shares and guardianship will be managed by their biological father, Hsu’s ex-husband Wang Xiaofei, until they reach adulthood.

A separate source indicated that Wang does not plan to relocate the children to Beijing and will prioritize their well-being in all decisions.

Last month, Koo said on social media that he planned to transfer his share of the inheritance to Hsu’s mother, saying, "All of Hsu’s hard-earned assets were meant to protect her beloved family, so I intend to give my share to my mother-in-law."

However, legal experts in Taiwan have pointed out that inheritance rights are personal and cannot be transferred to another individual. If Koo were to formally renounce his inheritance, Hsu’s entire wealth would be passed to her children.

Hsu debuted in 1994 as part of the group SOS with her sister, Dee Hsu. She gained widespread fame as the lead actress in "Meteor Garden," the 2001 Taiwanese adaptation of the popular Japanese manga series.

She married Chinese businessman Wang Xiaofei in 2011 but divorced after 10 years. In 2022, she rekindled her romance with Koo, whom she had dated two decades earlier. The couple registered their marriage in March 2022 without holding a wedding ceremony due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hsu died on Feb. 2 while on a family trip to Japan after developing flu-related pneumonia. At the time, Koo expressed his grief, saying, "I am going through indescribable pain as if my heart is being torn apart."

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.