[YouTube channel 'Hyeyeong-ineun Motmallyeo']
[YouTube channel 'Hyeyeong-ineun Motmallyeo']

Actor and painter Lee Hye-young has publicly introduced her stepdaughter for the first time since her remarriage, revealing that the young woman was the reason she stepped away from the entertainment industry.

A video of Lee meeting her daughter was posted Thursday on the YouTube channel "Hyeyeong-ineun Motmallyeo."

The daughter said she currently lives in New York but had come to Los Angeles to see family. She is 26 and has been resting after a serious cervical disc condition forced her to leave her job at a Michelin-starred hansik restaurant.

The two chatted warmly in the video, their easy rapport drawing viewers' attention.

Actor Lee Hye-young. [Newsis]
Actor Lee Hye-young. [Newsis]

When the production team asked Lee what had prompted her — a well-known celebrity — to put her career on hold and choose life as a mother, she said it was because of her daughter.

"One day my daughter asked why I hadn't been filming dramas lately and said she wanted to see me on TV," Lee said. "So I asked her: if I film a drama, I won't be able to spend time with you — would you rather have me on TV, or have me by your side? She said she wanted me with her." Lee added that she told her daughter she would raise her well first and then return to her entertainment career.

"She knows I gave up my entertainment career for her," Lee added.

The daughter expressed gratitude, saying her mother had given up a great deal for her over the years and had always supported her dreams.

Lee married singer Lee Sang-min in 2004 and divorced the following year. She remarried a financial businessman in 2011, gaining a stepdaughter through the union.


yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com