Culinary researcher Lee Hye-jung revealed her heartbreaking story of being estranged from her son for nearly a year, shedding tears.
The MBN show 'Sokpuri Show Dongchimi' aired on the 6th, themed 'Son, how did I raise you?'.
On this day, Lee Hye-jung cautiously began, "I turned my back on my son, who is like my life. It's a sad story. It seems like it's already been almost a year." She explained that she had given her son, who was doing other work, the export part job when an opportunity for K-food exports arose. "He speaks foreign languages well and has a journalism background, so I thought he could write the reports to receive funding well, and I wanted to help him," she stated.
Lee Hye-jung recalled that after securing a contract with a buyer in Japan last year, she thought she could support her child and treated the buyers to a meal. However, the problem arose during the after-party. She shared, "If we had just eaten, I wouldn't have fought with my son as much, but I took them to a bar," and added, "During the after-party, my son said, 'Mom, why are you doing this? There's no need to go this far.'"
Lee Hye-jung wanted to build a good relationship in the old-fashioned way, but she was concerned that her son was sitting in the corner, not drinking or doing anything in front of the guests. Despite it being something she did for her son, she was very angry at her son's lack of even providing translation help.
She expressed, "I was so upset. If my son had smiled, it would have made me feel good," and confronted her son, asking, "How could you do that to your mom?" Her son replied, "That's not helping. What you're doing isn't helpful. It's 'unnecessary.'" This escalated her frustration to the extreme.
Ultimately, Lee Hye-jung confessed that she grabbed her son's collar. She said, "After spending money to study in the U.S. for 10 years, he got angry and asked what country the food was from," and added, "My son said, 'You've helped me this much, so it's enough.' I was so angry that I shouted, 'Never show up in front of me again. Don't even show up as dust until I die. Even if I die, don't come.' My head was spinning," she recounted the extreme situation.
After returning to Korea, Lee Hye-jung was still upset and sent a message to her son declaring estrangement. "I was so upset that I couldn't sleep and cried for three days," she said, "That was last December. Since then, I haven't seen my son at all. If there's something to communicate, I do it through my daughter-in-law. I even added CCTV at home and changed all the locks because I was afraid my son would come." She revealed her life of estrangement for a year.
Studio participants comforted her, saying, "From the son's perspective, he probably didn't want to see his mom asking for help." In response, Lee Hye-jung shared, "Not long ago, my son came home, knelt down, and apologized," but added, "A year has passed, and while my anger has subsided, since I expressed my anger so much, I can't manage it either," leaving room for reconciliation and hope for future relationship recovery.
