[Sportschosun Lee Woo-joo] On 'My Little Old Boy,' Kang Ye-won showed her determination to take responsibility for her father's debts.
The episode of Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS)'s variety show 'My Little Old Boy' aired on the 14th and revealed a glimpse of Kang Ye-won's daily life.
Kang Ye-won said she has recently been trying to cut back on living expenses. "I thought I had to stop all cash spending because of my father's hospital bills," she said. "Intensive care isn't covered by insurance. The ICU is not insured, so it's extremely expensive. The bills run into tens of millions of won."
Kang Ye-won, who recently lost her father unexpectedly, said, "From December to March, I only cried. I was just avoiding it. But while taking care of my father, I thought, 'How long am I going to keep avoiding this? I'm the eldest. I have to do it.'"
She then visited a lawyer. The lawyer said, "Your father appears to have had a significant amount of debt from running a business." He added that he had passed away leaving behind debts. Kang Ye-won only learned about this after her father's death.
After reviewing the documents, the lawyer said, "Based on the papers you brought today alone, the debt your father left behind appears to be around 1 billion to 1.1 billion won," shocking Kang Ye-won. He also noted, "About 300 million won must be repaid in May. The repayment deadline has already passed." Kang Ye-won was left speechless, saying, "I don't have 300 million won in cash because of my father's hospital bills and other expenses."
The debt could even grow further. The lawyer explained, "These documents are materials you can review before the asset investigation results come out. The debt could increase. There are still things we do not know." Kang Ye-won broke down in tears at the uncertainty.
Kang Ye-won said, "I only found out after he passed away that there was debt. It all came at once. He raised me so well, so as a daughter, this is something I should naturally do, but I don't know. It's so hard. I don't even understand what I'm saying."
Her lawyer suggested that she renounce the inheritance, but Kang Ye-won said, "This is the house where the four of us lived for 30 years, since I was in high school. There is only one house, and it breaks my heart to think about having to dispose of it."
If the debt belongs to a corporation rather than an individual, Kang Ye-won has no legal obligation to repay it. Still, she said, "After the funeral, I met an employee who had worked with my father for 20 years. He knew more about my father than I did, and I felt like a daughter to him too. Even if I have no legal responsibility for the unpaid money, I want to do as much as I can."
Kang Ye-won visited the office to sort through her father's belongings. Seeing a family photo on the desk, she eventually broke down.
When Kang Ye-won met the employees who had lived and worked with her father like family, she carefully brought up the issue, saying, "There were nine months of unpaid wages, right? He never even told me once." She added, "As soon as I heard from my older sister that the company had debts, everything went dark. I've never really had to take responsibility for anything before, so I felt pathetic."
An employee responded by thanking Kang Ye-won, saying, "Children are not legally obligated to pay a company's debts, but I could feel that your determination to see this through to the end is a lot like your father's sense of responsibility." Kang Ye-won later handed over part of the overdue wages and cried, saying, "I will live while repaying the kindness I've received. I'm so sorry, and I'm so grateful."
Watching the broadcast, Kang Ye-won's mother said, "I didn't know she was paying the employees' wages. It feels like Ye-won is doing what I should have done." She expressed mixed emotions.
wjlee@sportschosun.com
