Actress Kim confesses to receiving blood transfusion

Kim Hee-sun

By Baek Byung-yeul

Returning actress and mother Kim Hee-sun, 35, opened up about her health, Monday, saying that she receives a blood transfusion regularly as she is suffering from sickle-cell anemia.

Speaking on the talk show “Healing Camp” on the SBS network, Kim said that “If I overwork, I have to receive a transfusion once every six months, but usually once every two years is sufficient to be normal.” The actress also said she always takes a certification photo whenever she receives a blood transfusion because she feared people might misunderstand that she passes out because of heavy drinking not anemia.

Kim whose popularity in the 1990s coined the word “Kim Hee-sun Syndrome” recently returned to the small screen after six years to star in the popular drama “Faith” opposite heartthrob Lee Min-ho.

The actress who is famous for her blunt speaking also responded to widely circulated rumor that she has had a large amount of plastic surgery. “I am so afraid of invasive surgery. Since I debuted in 1993, I never considered having cosmetic surgery.”

In the talk show, Kim said that she came close to quitting the entertainment business when a controversy about her poor acting ability emerged after the movie “Out Live” was shot in 2000. “I was so muddled because I didn’t understand how to act as a mother of a 10 year old boy when I was 24 years old. I couldn’t even watch my movie out of shame.”

Kim also confessed that she was not the most skilled person in controlling herself “when I have to do something that I don’t want to.”