[Sportschosun reporter Kim So-hee] Actress Im Ye-jin candidly opened up about the patriarchal holiday customs at her in-laws' home.
The October 26 episode of Maeil Broadcasting Network (MBN)'s 'Dongchimi' was presented as a Chuseok special. Cho Young-nam, Baek Il-seob, Kim Seung-soo, Noh Sa-yeon, Lee Kyung-shil and other cast members appeared on the show and discussed holidays and family.
Im Ye-jin recalled visiting her in-laws every holiday and described how men and women ate separately at their home.
Im Ye-jin said, "My husband's family is large. I kept going until about seven or eight years into my marriage, but after that, I stopped going. It was far away, but that's just an excuse—the culture was different."
She continued, "After I got married, when we set the table, only the men sat down and ate first—even the young nephews. Then they would roughly tidy up the table, replenish the side dishes, and the women would eat. I thought, 'What is this?' So from then on, I sat next to my husband and simply ate while he was eating."
Im Ye-jin explained that she was the only one who behaved differently at the time. She candidly said, "I was the only woman who did that. I couldn't understand eating from a table after the men had eaten."
After hearing this, Lee Kyung-shil shared another anecdote about Im Ye-jin's past holiday visits. Lee Kyung-shil said, "I heard that she would go there for seven or eight years and simply sleep even when it was time to eat. That's probably why her husband no longer takes her along," prompting laughter.
Im Ye-jin said, "Now that I've grown up and look back on it, I do feel sorry, but..." Lee Kyung-shil joked, "I heard that because you wouldn't get up, they prepared a separate meal for you. In short, you acted like a star."
Im Ye-jin admitted that her husband also stopped taking her to holiday gatherings at some point. She said, "At some point, even on days when I didn't have a shoot, my husband started saying, 'I'll go by myself,'" eliciting laughter.
Meanwhile, Im Ye-jin married Choi Chang Wook, a producer at Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), in 1989.
This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.
