Hong Jin-kyung Says She’s Even Considered Retiring Amid Surge in Negative Comments: "They Even Criticized My Baeksang Dress... It Made Me Depressed"

[Sportschosun Jo Yoon-sun] Hong Jin-kyung opened up about the emotional toll of malicious comments.

On the 18th, a video titled "Hong Jin-kyung Opens Up About How She’s Been Feeling Lately to Her 30-Year Best Friend Hoja Unnie (+Jung Sun-hee)" was released on the YouTube channel "Study King Jin Jin Jae Hong Jin Kyung."

That day, Hong said she had been feeling stressed by the sharp increase in negative comments and expressed how hurt she was. She recalled that when she wore a pink dress at the Baeksang Arts Awards, she drew attention, but then was criticized again for not wearing any accessories. "They even told me to at least wear earrings because I didn’t have a single accessory on," she said.

She added, "It’s also a stereotype that if you wear a dress, you have to pile on accessories. If you don’t want to wear anything, you don’t have to."

She then went on to say, "Why are there so many negative comments these days? All the comments about my Baeksang dress are hateful. I’m depressed. Why are people attacking me like this? I didn’t really do anything wrong, but when I get that kind of criticism, it makes me really depressed." She continued, "If you keep insulting other people’s lives, your own life will get tangled too."

Hong also declared, "I’m going to work a little more and then retire. I’ll say everything I want to say now." She added, "It’s amazing how much a person can change just by making up their mind. Thinking I can just retire makes me feel so relieved."

She then quickly made everyone laugh by saying, "But I think I’ll probably ask for 95% of it to be edited out. I’ll probably tell the PD, ‘I was burned out that day. Please cut just this once.’"

She continued, "This is just who I am. Maybe not everywhere else, but on my own channel, and especially to the Manjae-nim subscribers who come because they like me, I want to show myself without holding anything back."

Hong also confessed that the criticism had been so intense that she even asked ChatGPT directly why she was being attacked.

She then said, "The biggest reason seems to be that being born itself is a sin. Sometimes it really feels like just being born is a sin," drawing sympathy from viewers.