Veteran comedians Lee Young-ja and Jung Sun-hee have opened up about why they went for a long time without contacting one another.
They said it wasn’t the result of a feud. Instead, each was carrying wounds and memories that were too difficult to bear, and those private struggles naturally pulled them apart.
On a recent episode of the tvN STORY variety show 'What's the Point of Leaving It?', Jung appeared as a guest and sat down with host Lee Young-ja.
During the episode they noted, “We’re sharing a meal together for the first time in seven years,” and began to address stories they’d never discussed publicly. Jung described that period as “an unspoken, everyone-for-themselves survival.”
“We each went through such painful things that merely seeing one another brought those memories back,” she said. “It was hard to keep bringing those events up or to face each other, so we naturally drifted apart.”
Lee revisited the same memories. “I still have trauma when I think about that time,” she said. “When we met, those thoughts resurfaced, so I couldn’t stay in touch.” The two also admitted that small, hurtful episodes had strained their relationship.
Jung recalled, “There was a moment when I should have taken her side, but I spoke too coldly. For the first time I argued back and hung up the phone — my hands were shaking.” Lee laughed and added, “I even stopped eating soy-marinated crab then,” and they shared a wry smile as they remembered.
The pair reconnected after a long break when Jung announced her marriage. “When I announced my marriage, she reached out,” Jung said. “That’s when we started talking again.” On the show, Jung also reflected on the years after the 2008 death of her husband, the late Ahn Jae-hwan.
“I thought my life was over,” she said. “I felt I couldn’t live as Jung Sun-hee in Korea anymore.” She added, “I never imagined that someone who lost a husband to death — not divorce — and who is a comedian could make people laugh again.”
Jung described the period after the loss as a time of severe breakdown: moving between funeral homes, relying on injections to steady herself, then collapsing emotionally. “My mental state deteriorated to the point I was speaking nonsense,” she said. “For three years I dreamed I was lying on an autopsy table and people with scalpels were walking toward me. I also kept dreaming I was being buried alive.”
She praised the help she received from peers, especially Lee Kyung-sil. “Maybe because she’d been through hardship herself, she understood the aftermath,” Jung said. “At the funeral, she was the only one who told me, ‘From now on, tougher things will start.’”
“She didn’t just offer comfort — she told me to pull myself together,” Jung continued. “It felt like a slap at the time, but looking back, she was right.”
“She would wake me and say, ‘Did you see that?’ to keep me grounded,” Jung added. “It felt unbearable then, but over time I came to understand what she meant.”
“When I felt like ordinary life was over, she treated me normally, and that was a huge comfort,” Jung said. She also expressed gratitude to colleagues such as Lee Kyung-sil and Kim Young-chul for their support.
After years of enduring in their own ways, the two sat down and talked again. “I’ve always cheered for you from afar,” Jung said, and Lee nodded in agreement. Jung added, “Now we’re back to comfortably keeping in touch.”
Jo Na-yeon, TenAsia reporter nybluebook@tenasia.co.kr
