Comedian Kim Ji-seon has opened up about how she once earned as much as 200 million won a month during the peak of her home shopping career, only to suffer a traffic accident after severe burnout.
On the 22nd, a video titled "The One Line I Shouted Before the Accident. The God Kim Ji-seon Met" was released on the YouTube channel "Lee Sung-mi's Can't Go."
In the video, Kim Ji-seon looked back on the period when she became hugely popular in the home shopping industry after successfully losing weight following the birth of her fourth child.
She said, "After giving birth, I went on a strict diet and barely ate any carbohydrates for three months, starting as soon as 100 days had passed." She added, "The response exploded after I showed my abs."
She continued, "At the time, I did home shopping as many as six times a day. I went on every home shopping channel, and I was also hosting three TV programs and a regular radio show."
After hearing that, Lee Sung-mi said, "You must have been making around 200 million won a month," and Kim Ji-seon agreed. She recalled, "I didn't even have time to spend money. I was so busy making money that I could barely think straight."
Behind the glamorous success, however, were extreme exhaustion and a deep sense of emptiness. Kim Ji-seon confessed, "I would leave when the children were asleep and come back when they were asleep again. My husband was in the same bed, but we barely had time to see each other's faces." She added, "I had no life of my own. I became depressed and even wondered, 'Why am I living like this?'"
She described that period as "a time when I lived only for money." Because she remembered poverty from childhood, she always prayed, "Please let me become rich." But even after achieving what she wanted, happiness did not follow.
In the end, her punishing schedule led to an accident.
Kim Ji-seon said, "I had an early-morning live home shopping broadcast, but my manager overslept because he was so tired. I was angry, so I drove myself, finished the show, and was driving back when I drove recklessly." She added, "It was inevitable that I would crash."
She went on, "At that moment, memories flashed before my eyes like a panorama, from the hardships of my childhood to my marriage and the moments when I gave birth to my children." She recalled, "Inside the car, I cried out, 'Father, I can't die like this. Please save me.'"
Fortunately, the vehicle was badly damaged, but Kim Ji-seon was not seriously hurt. She said, "Only after going through that did I realize that money is not the whole of blessing." She added, "I came to understand that I had been trading time with my family, peace, and rest for money."
She also said, "After that, my home shopping work gradually decreased, but I was no longer anxious like before. I started to think, 'This is the time being given to me to rest.'" She added, "That accident became the turning point that changed the direction of my life."
narusi@sportschosun.com
