Actor's devotion to mom warms viewer's hearts

Park Sang-min, left, from "General’s Son III" (1992) / Screen capture from YouTube

Actor Park Sang-min from the “General’s Son” movie trilogy (1990-1992) made headlines Wednesday after a TV documentary showed his devotion to his disabled mother.

EBS program “Real Theater” followed Park and his stroke-affected mother’s trip to Japan over two episodes, starting last week.

Park, who divorced in 2010 and battled his former wife over alimony until 2014, showed his heartwarming side as he cared for his mother. This was in contrast to his usual tough-guy image, reminiscent of his most popular role as Kim Du-han from the movie, which is based on a true story. In it, he plays the leader of a gang hustling the yakuza during the Japanese Colonial period.

Park said one of the reasons for the divorce was that he did not like his wife’s attitude to his mother, who had the stroke five years ago.

Tuesday’s episode changed viewers’ opinions of Park from last week’s show, in which he caused controversy by demonstrating how he slapped his former wife as they argued over his hospitalized mother. Viewers criticized Park for the mistreatment and the program for showing the controversial scene.

Park, who debuted with the movie in 1990, said he has been struggling with the divorce that “killed the reputation that he had built throughout his 20-year career.”