Kim Ji-hyun of Lula. [Herald POP (now Herald Muse)]
Kim Ji-hyun of Lula. [Herald POP (now Herald Muse)]

Kim Ji-hyun, a former member of the K-pop group Lula, has shared a story about receiving an unsolicited call from a high-ranking business figure during the height of her fame.

The anecdote came to light Wednesday in a video titled "Even the charismatic Kim Ji-hyun can't do it here," posted to the YouTube channel Daktershin.

In the video, Kim said she received inappropriate propositions at the peak of her career. "It was the kind of thing where someone would offer money and ask me out on a date," she said.

She went on to describe one particularly baffling incident. "One day, someone called me and said, 'If you can guess who I am, I'll give you 10 million won ($7,390),'" she said.

Kim said her pride got the better of her. "I thought to myself, 'I'm Kim Ji-hyun — who do you think you're talking to?' so I played dumb the whole time," she said, adding that she later figured out who the caller was.

The acquaintance who had given the man Kim's phone number later revealed the caller's identity and expressed disappointment, saying she should have played along.

Kim explained why she had kept up the act. "He was the kind of chairman-level figure whose name everyone would recognize. I had actually met him once at a private gathering with another female celebrity, and it turned out he was dating her at the time," she said.

When the other guests pressed her for the caller's identity, Kim kept mum. "He's incredibly famous and quite a bit older — my father's generation," she said. "He's settled down with a family now and doing well, so I'll leave it at that."


choigo@heraldcorp.com