Broadcaster Hong Jin-kyung. [Newsis]
Broadcaster Hong Jin-kyung. [Newsis]

Broadcaster Hong Jin-kyung, 49, has revealed why she chose to announce her divorce on a fellow broadcaster's YouTube channel, despite initially wanting to keep the news private.

Kim Ji-seon and Jung Sun-hee appeared as guests on Friday's episode of the KBS 2TV variety program "Oktapbang-ui Munje-a."

Hong explained why she had disclosed her divorce last year through Jung Sun-hee's YouTube channel. "I wanted to avoid making any announcement at all, but reporters had already found out," she said. "I thought it would be better to explain things properly rather than have it come out that way."

Hong said she was the one who first reached out to Jung about appearing on the channel. "Whether it was when I was dating or after — Rael's father and I always met with her together," she said. "She shared our history with us."

"Rather than talking about it alone and feeling lonely, I thought it would be more comfortable and natural to speak as if I were talking to an older sister," Hong said. "She was the only person who came to mind."

Hong made headlines last year when it was reported she had divorced after 22 years of marriage.

At the time, speaking on Jung's YouTube channel, Hong said she and her ex-husband were on good terms but had divorced. "It's a shame that we only truly regained our friendship once we finally became strangers to each other," she said.

"I kept wondering — is it OK to just let this pass without saying anything? It weighed on me, like I was deceiving people," she added. "You may be curious why we separated, but it was not because of any one person's fault."

She also said the two remain in frequent contact and that their families continue to meet regularly.

Hong said her mother-in-law had urged her to wait. "She told me, 'Announce it when Rael is a little older. I'd prefer you not do it now.' So I held back even more," Hong said. "My agency was getting a lot of inquiries, and I kept asking them to wait a little longer. But I couldn't put it off any further. I told my mother-in-law about the situation, and Rael's father also said it was OK to go ahead."


paq@heraldcorp.com