Singer Byun Jin-sub and marathon runner Hwang Young-jo (the red circle marks Hwang's injury) [MBN 'Kim Joo-ha's Day and Night']
Singer Byun Jin-sub and marathon runner Hwang Young-jo (the red circle marks Hwang's injury) [MBN 'Kim Joo-ha's Day and Night']

Singer Byun Jin-sub, 59, has recalled a frightening incident from more than 30 years ago in which marathon runner Hwang Young-jo, 56, was seriously injured after being struck by one of his golf shots.

The two appeared together Saturday on MBN's "Kim Joo-ha's Day and Night."

The pair have maintained a close friendship since the early 1990s, when they began playing golf together.

Byun described the accident as one of his most memorable moments from his early days learning the game. "I was about to swing and Hwang was standing right in front of me," he said. "I told him to move, but he said he was watching and could dodge it, so he told me to go ahead and hit. He ended up getting hit and bleeding."

"I carried him on my back and ran," Byun said. "He was hurt so badly he was rolling around in pain. We went straight to the hospital and he got stitches right away — about 30 of them."

Hwang confirmed the account, saying he should have known better. "You should never stand in front of a beginner on a golf course," he said. "The ball looked huge coming right at me, and I instinctively turned my head — but it hit me on the bridge of my glasses. I had a concussion and blacked out for a moment."

"When I came to, I started bleeding," Hwang added. "I needed 50 stitches."

Serious injuries from errant golf balls are not uncommon on courses.

In August 2024, at a golf course in Incheon, a ball struck by a golfer in his 50s ricocheted off a maple tree about 20 meters away and hit a fellow player standing nearby in the head. The victim suffered a focal brain injury and cerebral hemorrhage, requiring four weeks of medical treatment. The golfer who hit the ball was indicted but acquitted at the first trial.

In June of the same year, a woman in her 60s died after being struck in the head by a golf ball hit by a member of her group at a course in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province.


paq@heraldcorp.com