[Sportschosun Kim Jun-seok] Singer Goo Hee-ah said she cut ties with her parents after years of pain, including her father's domestic violence and a dispute over wedding gifts.
Appearing on MBN's variety show Dongchimi, which aired on the 25th, Goo Hee-ah said, "My father was very strict, and there was also domestic violence," adding that she grew up in fear of him from childhood.
She said she was hurt again ahead of her wedding. At the time, Goo Hee-ah was struggling financially and asked her father to lend her 1 million won for wedding expenses, but he refused, saying he had no money.
She later claimed that she learned her father had taken several million won in congratulatory money that her grandmother had given her.
Goo Hee-ah said, "I thought he really had no money, so I believed him. But it turned out that my father had taken the money my grandmother gave me as a wedding gift."
The decisive moment that completely broke her relationship with her parents came after the birth of her second child.
Goo Hee-ah said that after giving birth, her temperature rose to 40 degrees Celsius and she had to go to the emergency room, but she received no help or comfort from her parents.
She said, "Even though I was in so much pain, my parents were cold," and explained that the wounds from her childhood, combined with the neglect she felt at the time of childbirth, eventually led her to stop contacting them.
Goo Hee-ah said it was painful to have parents in name only, adding, "I am now estranged from my parents."
During this period, she also suffered from severe postpartum depression. She said she had originally worked as an actress on musical and theater stages, but gave up her dream of acting after becoming pregnant just three weeks after meeting her husband and moving to Gunsan.
Goo Hee-ah said, "I lived as a housewife for 10 years. At the time, Gunsan felt like my place of exile," describing the frustration of having to handle housework and childcare in an unfamiliar city.
As her body and mind collapsed under childbirth and childcare, she said she fell into deep depression, collecting sleeping pills one by one and even having extreme thoughts. But just as she was about to give up on life, she noticed her third child.
Goo Hee-ah recalled, "I had made up my mind to die, but then I saw my third child," and added, "I thought I must not become a parent like my mother and father, so I immediately changed my mind."
She later began Zumba dancing and found an outlet for her suppressed emotions. She then appeared on KBS's National Singing Contest and won the grand championship, marking a turning point in her life.
She said she wanted to give her children the love she never received from her parents, and vowed, "I want to be a parent who becomes a strong support for my children."
"My in-laws and my husband took care of the feelings I could not even say I had because I had parents," she said, expressing gratitude to the family that stood by her.
In closing, Goo Hee-ah said, "I want to work hard on the stage I have been given," and added cautiously, "I hope I can resolve my issues with my parents someday."
narusi@sportschosun.com
This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.
