Photo is unrelated to the article. [Getty Images Bank]
Photo is unrelated to the article. [Getty Images Bank]

Counselor Lee Ho-sun delivered a sharp rebuke to a youthful-looking woman in her 60s who had been exchanging messages with younger men, calling her behavior "emotional infidelity."

The top-ranked story in the "Endless Suspicion, Hell of Distrust" segment of the recently aired SBS Plus program "Lee Ho-sun's Cider" featured a woman in her 60s who had remarried a Japanese-American man living in Hawaii.

The woman said she first met her current husband about 10 years ago while asking for directions in Hawaii, and that after a long-distance relationship between Korea and Hawaii, the two registered their marriage in 2018.

She said she had recently received permanent residency and was planning to move in with her husband, but confided that she was hesitant to relocate to Hawaii because of his excessive jealousy.

When the woman appeared in the studio in person, she drew attention for looking far younger than her actual age.

Lee said she was "startled to hear she was in her 60s," and the woman added to the surprise by revealing she had previously been married to a foreign man 17 years her junior.

The woman said she still frequently receives messages from men in their 30s and 40s, and particularly that she had been exchanging messages with a 31-year-old Japanese man she had met through social media.

The woman tried to explain herself, saying the man "said it didn't matter even after I told him my age" and that she had been thinking she should block him soon. Lee's expression hardened. "Do you know what you're saying right now?" she said, adding that the woman was enjoying the moments when the other person showed interest in her.

Lee then said, "This is infidelity. Even without meeting in person, it is emotional infidelity," and added that accepting attention from other men the way she was doing would only deepen her husband's suspicions.

She went on to say the woman should cut ties with other men if she wanted to live with her husband in Hawaii. Lee also said the woman should frequently express her love and reassurance to her husband, and remind herself that she is a married woman.

In response, the woman said, "I am very embarrassed that you pointed out things I had not thought about. Hearing your advice, I think the bigger problem was with me," and reflected on her own behavior.


choigo@heraldcorp.com