Actor Kim Jung-eun. [Herald POP (now Herald Muse) provided]
Actor Kim Jung-eun. [Herald POP (now Herald Muse) provided]

Actor Kim Jung-eun has opened up about her tearful on-air breakup announcement with Lee Seo-jin 18 years ago, saying she had not wanted to address it on camera at all.

On Sunday, Kim appeared on the YouTube channel "Hyeyoung-i-neun Mot-mallyeo" alongside Lee Hye-young, where the two looked back on their broadcasting careers. The conversation turned to Kim's former SBS program "Kim Jung-eun's Chocolate" and the breakup segment.

Kim and Lee Seo-jin met while co-starring in the 2006 SBS drama series "Lovers" and went on to date publicly for about two years. When they broke up in November 2008, Kim appeared on "Kim Jung-eun's Chocolate" in tears to speak about the split — a moment that drew wide attention at the time.

Lee Hye-young recalled the reaction, saying, "All of a sudden she does a breakup announcement right there on the show. I thought, that's bold — is this Hollywood coming to Korea for the first time?" Kim said she had not wanted to bring it up on "Chocolate" at all.

She explained why she stepped in front of the cameras anyway. "I didn't want to leave something like that behind, but there were so many reporters waiting outside. Not making a statement would have made things complicated," she said, adding, "Honestly, it made no sense. I could have run away, I could have said nothing." She also noted that staying silent would have caused trouble for others around her.

Lee Hye-young said she faced similar pressure when she returned to television after her own divorce. When she rejoined the cast of "Yeogeol Six," a broadcaster official told her, "It's a mountain you'll have to climb eventually, so just apologize in front of everyone at once." Hearing that 300 to 400 reporters would be there, she went ahead and made a public statement. "Back then, if you didn't make a statement, something would happen to you on air — that was the era," Lee said.

Kim sympathized, saying the other guests and hosts must have felt strong pressure waiting because of Lee. She reflected on both of their choices, saying, "In a way, we were being brave — not hiding, but saying, 'Did a lot of people wait and stop because of me? OK, I'm truly sorry. I'll take care of it.'"

Kim married a Korean American man of the same age who works in finance in 2016.


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