Actor Jeon Won-ju
Actor Jeon Won-ju

Actor Jeon Won-ju, 86, said she inherited a house, commercial properties and a luxury watch from her late mother.

Jeon appeared Thursday on a video posted to the YouTube channel "Sunpung Sunwoo Yong-yeo," hosted by fellow actor Sunwoo Yong-yeo.

"My hometown is Gaeseong. I came south as a refugee when I was in fifth grade of elementary school," Jeon said. Born in 1939, she fled to South Korea with her family when the Korean War broke out and eventually settled in Incheon. Her family had been wealthy ginseng farmers in Gaeseong, but fell into poverty after moving south.

Her mother rebuilt the family's fortunes through sheer resilience and a sharp business sense. "My mother was a Gaeseong merchant. She ran a large silk shop at Dongdaemun Market," Jeon said. Sunwoo recalled the woman fondly: "Jeon Won-ju's mother was incredibly generous. She was like a true matriarch."

Her mother placed great importance on education and enrolled Jeon at Sookmyung Women's University in 1958 to study Korean language and literature — at a time when it was difficult for women to attend even middle or high school, let alone university.

Jeon pulled out a ring and a luxury watch to show viewers. "These are all expensive. This is a Rolex," she said. "It's a watch my mother gave me. She said, 'I couldn't give you a proper send-off when you got married — take this,' and passed it on to me."

Sunwoo said Jeon's mother had been supportive during her first marriage. "She did a lot for Jeon Won-ju the first time she married — didn't she support her husband through his studies all the way until he got his doctorate?" she said.

Her mother, however, opposed her remarriage. "When I remarried in 1969, my mother didn't approve of the match. She threw me out with nothing for going through with a marriage she was against," Jeon recalled. "I spent days and nights in a rented room at someone else's house."

In time, her mother relented and reached out to her daughter again. "I suppose she couldn't bear it — before she passed, she bought me a house and commercial properties," Jeon said. "That's why parents matter so much."

She added, "At first my mother hit me so much I thought she was my stepmother. She even had different paddles depending on how serious the offense was."

Jeon was widowed after three years of her first marriage. She remarried in 1969 and built a new life, but lost her second husband as well when he died of liver cancer in 2013.


paq@heraldcorp.com