Comedian Bae Young-man. [MBN's 'Teukjong Sesang']
Comedian Bae Young-man. [MBN's 'Teukjong Sesang']

Comedian Bae Young-man, 66, has opened up about the sudden death of his young daughter, the collapse of his marriage that followed, and the two decades he spent raising three children on his own.

Bae appeared on Thursday's episode of MBN's lifestyle program "Teukjong Sesang" and spoke about his divorce more than 20 years ago.

He recalled receiving a phone call telling him his wife had collapsed at a large hospital in Ilsan. "When I got to the hospital, she was in the emergency room — and they told me the baby had arrived already dead," he said. "My daughter had been smiling at me that morning, and then she was gone."

The sudden loss left deep scars on both Bae and his former wife. "The conflict became so intense from that point on. It was so, so hard that we couldn't maintain a normal family life," he said. "Losing that one child tore the whole family apart."

The couple ultimately divorced. "Looking back, I think we should have held on to each other and gotten through it together — but we couldn't," Bae said. "Being together was too painful, so we had no choice but to go our separate ways."

He then said he took full custody of the children, raising all three on his own for roughly 20 years after the divorce.

He said his daughter has since married, his youngest has found a job and lives in company housing, and his eldest son has been a source of conflict. Bae admitted he had been particularly strict with his oldest child, hoping he would succeed, and that the relationship grew distant — the two had a major falling-out three years ago and stopped speaking for a time.

After reconciling with his son, Bae reflected on his approach to fatherhood. "Why do you think I never abandoned the three of you and raised you to the end? Because I don't think I could live without you. I never saw it as hardship — watching you is what got me this far," he said, adding that the experience had made him overly critical at times. "I thought pressuring my son was a form of love. It wasn't," he said, expressing regret.


yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com