Actress Han So-hee, who rose to fame through this year’s hit JTBC Korean drama “The World of the Married,” has issued an apology after it was revealed her mother used her name without her knowledge to borrow money from people but never paid it back.
A person uploaded a post on July 18 titled “‘The World of the Married’ actress’ mother’s fraud” and stated that she joined a cooperative headed by Han So-hee’s mother and from October 2015 to August 2016, she paid 2.45 million won ($2,035 or P100,520) per month. In September 2016, she was supposed to receive money but the star’s mother disappeared. She has yet to get 9.7 million won ($8,060 or P398,000) back.
Han So-hee wrote an apology on her blog to say that she only knew about her mother’s debts when she turned 20 as she was living with her grandmother because her parents divorced when she was young.
“I don't dare to count everything, but I'd like to apologize to the victims who uploaded their posts with a feeling like standing on the edge of a cliff. I think everyone is in a dilemma, whatever I say, it can't comfort your anger. Besides, I also sincerely apologize to those who were hurted or felt uncomfortable due to this issue. I'm sincerely sorry,” Han So-hee wrote, according to Osen.
The 25-year-old star added, “My parents got divorced so my grandmother has raised me since I was five. When I entered high school, I could move to a school in Ulsan, where my mother lived, but I still lived with my grandmother. After my graduation, I moved to Seoul and started my career as an artist.”
“I don't often meet my mother, so not until I turned 20 did I know about her debt. Because she is the daughter of my grandmother - who brought me up - and because of the moral norms, as her daughter, since before the debut, I paid debt for her as much as I could,” the actress narrated.
Han So-hee explained that “after the debut, through contact with people who owe money, I learned that my mother used my name and activities to borrow money but refused to repay the debt. Among the records of my mother's debts, I have no idea about the borrowing documents and that the amount of debt my mother received on my behalf has become so much to be handled.”
“With my immature judgments, I used to think that the only solution was to pay that debt on behalf of my mother. But perhaps, due to my mistake, there have been more victims of this incident. I don't know what else to say but an apology to everyone. Finally, once again, I sincerely bow to apologize to the victims of the incident, as well as all those who have suffered from this incident,” she said.
In “The World of the Married,” Han So-hee essayed the character of Yeo Da-kyung, who had an affair with Lee Tae-oh (played by Park Hae-joon), who is married to Ji Sun-woo (played by Kim Hee-ae).
“The World of the Married,” which ran from March to May this year, ended by garnering the highest drama rating in Korean cable TV history with 28.37 percent.