‘He made me look crazy’: South Korean actor cries after president’s election win
Kim Bu-seon / Captured from Kim's YouTube channel
Actor Kim Bu-seon shared her emotional reaction to Lee Jae-myung’s election as South Korea’s president, saying she shed tears over the outcome.
On Tuesday, a video titled “Jae-myung, now live kindly” was uploaded to the actor's YouTube.
“I can’t sleep,” Kim said in the video. “Lee Jae-myung has finally become president. I don’t know whether to congratulate him or break down in tears.”
In the early hours of Wednesday, Lee, the Democratic Party of Korea candidate, was declared the winner with 49.42 percent of the vote, defeating People Power Party candidate Kim Moon-soo, who received 41.15 percent.
Kim recalled meeting Lee years ago. “I once told him, ‘Someone like you should become president. I think you will.’ And now, he’s done it. But I’ve suffered so much since then.”
Kim Bu-seon / Xportsnews
She continued, “I suffered to the point that my soul felt murdered. I couldn’t step outside for a long time. I tried to live quietly in my hometown, but even there, my older sister kicked me out, saying I was an embarrassment. It wasn’t Lee Jae-myung himself, but his fanatical supporters who made my life unbearable. They are still tormenting me and destroying my soul.”
Kim said she had come to accept her situation. “Maybe this is just how I’ll live and die. But Lee, you have children, don’t you? My daughter once wrote a short post saying she had thrown away a photo of you that I had given her. That was just the truth, but because of your supporters, my daughter ended up leaving this country.”
In July 2023, Kim revealed that her daughter Lee Ru-an (formerly Lee Mi-so) held a secret wedding abroad without informing her mother.
“I never demanded anything from you,” Kim said. “We were young back then. Even now, your fanatical supporters are hurling verbal abuse, spreading lies and committing crimes against me. Even some respected people in the film industry — whom I admire — have begun to doubt me or think I’m being too extreme. But wasn’t it you who made me look like a crazy woman? That’s not right.”
Kim Bu-seon / Captured from Kim's YouTube channel
She went on, “I cried a lot. The grief, the shock and your supporters with their thoughtless, rotten minds have made my daughter and my family live as if we are criminals.”
With tears in her eyes, Kim said, “Now that you’re president, please build a good welfare state. Let go of your greed, stop lying and live kindly. I really wanted to stop you from becoming president. I’ve taken too many beatings. I’ve suffered so unfairly. Maybe it’s naive of me, but I still believe that leaders should be honest — ethical and moral enough not to lie. But looking around, it seems people like us — honest people — can never enter politics.”
This article from Xportsnews is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.