[Sportschosun Lee Ge-eun] Actress Jung Jung-ah spoke candidly about the hardships she faced during a period of financial difficulty and when her mother was battling cancer.
On the 10th, a video titled "Her life story feels like reading a book called <A Manual for Hardship>" was uploaded to the YouTube channel Renew Us.
Jung Jung-ah recalled the moment she learned about her parents' debt and described how shocked she was at the time. She said, "When I asked my mother what she wanted most, she said, 'If I had just 10 million won, I would have no wish left.' She said it was not so embarrassing to owe 500 million won or 100 million won, but it was painful that she could not repay the 1 million-won and 100,000-won loans she had borrowed from people." After that, Jung left her child with her mother and went to Dongdaemun's early-morning market to earn money.
To make matters worse, she said she later received a call from her child's daycare saying that her son was not doing well. Jung Jung-ah recalled, "I got a call recommending that he be examined. I only thought he was quiet and reserved, and never imagined he was sick. When I went to a local pediatric clinic, they bluntly told me to get him tested for autism. At another hospital, they even diagnosed him with intellectual disability."
As if that were not enough, the situation became even harder when her mother was also diagnosed with cancer. Jung Jung-ah said, "After my mother was diagnosed with cancer, she received a large insurance payout and said, 'At least I can pay off the debt because I got cancer, so I'm glad.' I could not bring myself to tell her not to say things like that. To be honest, I also thought it was a relief because I had no money. I felt so sorry for myself for thinking that way." She then broke down in tears.
She said the family managed to pay off all its debt last year, and her son was later cleared of developmental delay. Jung Jung-ah explained, "At a major hospital, they told us he was not autistic, but had severe developmental delay that could lead to a disability. They said what mattered was winning the child's trust and waiting until he could listen to his mother. I played with him until late at night however he wanted, and he also received physical therapy and speech therapy."
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