Wjsn's Dayoung. [Starship Entertainment]
Wjsn's Dayoung. [Starship Entertainment]

Dayoung, a member of the girl group Wjsn, has opened up about growing up in a blended family, revealing that her biological father left behind tens of billions of won in debt.

The singer appeared as a guest on Tuesday's episode of MBC's "Oneureul Beotin Norae — Playlist 109," a music talk program.

Dayoung met with the hosts at a tteokbokki restaurant she had once visited with school friends.

"I started training as a trainee at such a young age that I have almost no memories from my school days," she said. "But one day my friends asked me to go eat tteokbokki together, and this is the place we came to."

Reflecting on her childhood, Dayoung made a surprise confession. "I used to think a lot about how I could help my mom rather than be a burden to her," she said. "I grew up in a blended family — my dad is my stepfather."

She added that her parents divorced when she was young and that her biological father left the family in serious debt. "He even took out tens of billions of won in loans under my mom's name," she said. "It happened when I was 7 years old, and in that moment I felt like I had become an adult."

"One day my mom started leaving the house before dawn," Dayoung continued. "She worked one job during the day and ran a business in the evenings. She lived like that for years, and I wanted to help her."

Dayoung also explained why she was able to move to Seoul at such a young age to pursue a career as a singer. "I promised my mom I would succeed and turn the family's fortunes around by a certain age," she said. "She saw the look in my eyes and told me to go for it."


choigo@heraldcorp.com