"Top Instructor" Lee Ji-young on the Anonymous Post She Left for a High School Girl Who Said She Wanted to Die: "I Praise My Past Self" (Radio Star)

[Sportschosun reporter Kim Soo-hyun] "Top instructor" Lee Ji-young spoke about an anonymous post she wrote 20 years ago that drew praise.

The episode of MBC's "Radio Star" that aired on the 24th featured Lee Ji-young, Kim Dae-ho, Kyung Soo-jin, and Kim Min-kyung in a special titled "Everyone Is Fighting Their Own Convictions."

Lee Ji-young, who has been called a "principled intellectual" for an anonymous post she wrote 20 years ago, said, "A famous Q&A service that had guaranteed anonymity was once exposed without consent. One day, my assistants contacted me and said I had been revealed on 'Knowledge iN.' Fortunately, it was a good story, so I breathed a sigh of relief."

Lee recalled, "That was a difficult day for me. I searched for 'I'm having a hard time,' and a high school girl's counseling post came up. It said, 'I want to die. My parents don't love me either.'"

She continued, "I really wanted to help that student. I was very poor during my school years too. Even though it was anonymous, I wrote a long message with all my sincerity."

She said she wrote, "The thought of wanting to die does not come from hating yourself, but paradoxically from loving yourself too much. Even if a 100,000-won check is crumpled, its value does not change, and neither does your worth, so I hope you choose to live."

Lee's post was written when she was only 22. She admitted, "I wrote it before I knew I would become an instructor. I felt like I should praise my younger self."

She added, "That student should have left a comment, but there was nothing. If I click on that ID now, it says 'inactive user.' I wish that student had lived after reading my post. I want to find her so badly," drawing sympathy with her frustration.

shyun@sportschosun.com