Singer Bae Ki-sung appears on TV Chosun's Joseon's Romantics on Monday. [TV Chosun]
Singer Bae Ki-sung appears on TV Chosun's Joseon's Romantics on Monday. [TV Chosun]

Singer Bae Ki-sung, who developed sudden hearing loss after pushing himself to conceive a child, said he has been struggling with the condition for five months.

Appearing on TV Chosun's entertainment show Joseon's Romantics on Monday, Bae said "my right ear has not been working for five months." He added, "I've had tinnitus 24 hours a day for five months. I can't hear anything people on my right side are saying."

Bae said the hearing loss has weighed on him. "I feel constantly sorry for not being able to show my best voice and condition," he said.

Bae developed sudden hearing loss in January. On an earlier broadcast, he explained that he and his wife had been trying to conceive but she had struggled with IVF treatment. He decided to "give it everything I had" for a natural pregnancy, trying for eight consecutive days in line with her ovulation schedule, then heading straight out on a camping trip the next day. "In the cold weather, I suddenly started hearing ringing, and then all sound just disappeared," he said. His left ear, fortunately, remains unaffected.

On subsequent broadcasts, Bae has continued to say his right ear still cannot hear, adding that his doctor told him "if it doesn't improve by six months, I could be diagnosed with a disability."


paq@heraldcorp.com