Ko Du-shim. [Herald POP (now Herald Muse)]
Ko Du-shim. [Herald POP (now Herald Muse)]

Actress Ko Du-shim, widely known as "the nation's mom," has said she is open to remarriage — 28 years after her divorce.

The admission comes in an episode of SBS's "My Little Old Boy" set to air Sunday night, in which Ko meets actors Lim Won-hee and Kim Gwang-gyu and holds nothing back with her trademark candid advice.

In a recent recording, Lim and Kim — whose combined age is 117 — headed to a Pilates class together. Kim, a four-year Pilates veteran, and Lim traded competitive jabs while also reenacting a famous scene from the film "Spider-Man."

Ko then paid a visit to Lim's home. Long describing both Lim and Kim as "pitiful younger colleagues she wants to treat to a meal," Ko said she had "always wanted to meet them together" and served up a spread of Jeju Island dishes she had prepared herself.

She then turned her sharp tongue on their love lives, asking, "You're both so handsome — why can't you find a wife?" and adding, "What are you singles going to do?"

When Lim asked whether she had any thoughts of remarrying, Ko did not hesitate. "I have no intention of living alone," she said, openly expressing her interest in remarriage.

Ko Du-shim. [SBS "My Little Old Boy"]
Ko Du-shim. [SBS "My Little Old Boy"]

Born in 1951, Ko made her debut in 1972 as a fifth-round open-recruitment talent at MBC and went on to build one of Korean television's most celebrated careers, with beloved drama series including "Jeonwon Ilgi," "Kkotboda Areumdawo," "Please, Mom," "Dear My Friends," "When the Camellia Blooms" and "Our Blues." Her authentic portrayals of motherhood earned her the title of "the nation's mom."

Ko married a businessman in 1976 and had a son and a daughter, but the couple divorced in 1998 after 22 years of marriage.


yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com