Broadcaster Choi Hwa-jung. [Herald Muse]
Broadcaster Choi Hwa-jung. [Herald Muse]

Broadcaster Choi Hwa-jung has revealed the return on her stock holdings.

On Thursday, Choi posted a video to her YouTube channel titled "Celebrity best friends Choi Hwa-jung and Hong Jin-kyung, who lost tens of billions of won on bad information." Hong Jin-kyung, who appeared in the video, greeted Choi with a joke the moment she saw her: "Aren't you the stock millionaire? There were a lot of articles calling you a stock millionaire."

The "stock expert" label had stuck after Choi told Hong's YouTube channel "Gongbuwang Jjincheontjae," a study-themed variety show, that she held shares in Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix and had sold them at their peak.

"They were calling me a 'stock expert,'" Choi said. "I was scared. They say life is a comedy when seen from afar and a tragedy up close." Hong chimed in: "People have no idea how much we suffered over stocks."

When the conversation turned to reports that many companies could be delisted next year, Choi reacted with alarm. "Ours might get delisted too," she said. Hong replied, "It's top of the list. I've just made my peace with it."

Choi then disclosed the return on a specific holding she shares with Hong and another friend. "The stock that Jin-kyung, Jeong-hwa and I hold is at -94.87%," she said.

Explaining why she sold her Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix shares, Choi said she is normally reluctant to sell. "I can never sell. I always hold on because of my own greed — I'm known for not selling," she said. "This time, my manager told me I had to pay taxes on the Samsung-Hynix shares and said, 'Stop holding on to everything and sell some to cover the taxes.'"

"If there had been no tax bill, I wouldn't have sold," she added. "I didn't sell everything — how could I sell all my Samsung-Hynix shares? The rest of what I have is also in the red right now." She then said the partial sale had turned out to be "a stroke of divine luck."

Hong agreed. "She sold at a good time because she needed to pay taxes. I hope people don't misunderstand — Hwa-jung sold because she had a tax bill to cover," she said. "It often turns out that selling when you urgently need cash happens to be the peak."


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