Actor Hwang Seok-jeong [Herald Muse]
Actor Hwang Seok-jeong [Herald Muse]

Actor Hwang Seok-jeong has shared a story about discovering graves and coffins one after another on farmland she purchased.

Hwang appeared on MBC's variety program "Radio Star," which aired Wednesday, and recounted how something unsettling turned up on her roughly 3,300-square-meter farm.

"I'm not joking — this is real," she said. "I bought land with no graves on it, but there was a large stone, and when I looked at it, a name was written on it."

It turned out to be a grave marker. "Before I bought the land, there had been an unregistered grave there," she said, adding that she later found out the deceased had living descendants and reached out to them.

Hwang contacted the descendants and asked them to have the grave relocated, then called in an excavator operator to level the ground.

But less than 10 minutes into the work, something unexpected happened. "The excavator operator came over with his lips turned purple," Hwang said, explaining that another coffin had been buried just beneath the surface.

"Once he started digging, another coffin appeared. It was a joint burial for a couple," she said. "Apparently, in the old days, if the spot was considered good, they would sometimes place one coffin on top of another."

The practice, known as "cheomjang" — double-stacking burials — was a central plot element in the 2024 film Exhuma.

"For the workers, it was pure terror. The ajeossi was shaking," Hwang said, adding that she told him he could just cover the ground with soil once and leave.

Hwang ultimately decided to leave the coffin in place. "I covered it with soil and told them to stay here," she said. "I said I would plant lots of flowers and offer them wine and meat, so please rest comfortably." She added that once she made up her mind to coexist with them, she actually felt reassured.

Born in 1971, Hwang made her debut in 2001 and has since worked across film, theater and drama series. She recently appeared in "Hope," directed by Na Hong-jin.


bbo@heraldcorp.com