Yale professor praises Youn Yuh-jung for speaking about son’s sexual identity

Actor Youn Yuh-jung / Courtesy of CJ ENM

Actor Youn Yuh-jung has received praise from Yale University professor Peter Jongho Na after she publicly shared that her eldest son is gay.

Na, a professor of psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine, wrote Sunday on Facebook, “If I had to name the most courageous celebrity in Korea, I would say Hong Seok-cheon without hesitation,” referring to Korea’s first openly gay entertainer. “The fact that no other prominent celebrity has followed in his footsteps since his 2000 coming out speaks volumes.”

He continued, “I pay my respects to Youn,” referring to her recent interviews in which she discussed her connection to the film “The Wedding Banquet.”

“As Youn said, Korea is still a very conservative society. From the perspective of someone living in the United States, it may not seem like a big deal. But for someone navigating life in that society, it takes immense courage — and that is why I respect her.”

Yale professor Peter Jongho Na praises Youn Yuh-jung in Facebook post for her courage in speaking about her son’s sexual identity. Captured from his Facebook account

In interviews with media outlets, Youn shared that her personal experiences closely paralleled her role in “The Wedding Banquet,” which opened in North America on Friday. In the film, she plays the grandmother of a gay Korean-American man.

“My personal life is deeply connected to this movie,” she said. “My eldest son is gay, and I shared some of the experiences I had with him through this role.”

Youn revealed that her son came out in 2000 and that when same-sex marriage was legalized in New York, her family held his wedding there. “Since it was still a secret in Korea, the whole family went to New York,” she said. “Now, I love my son’s husband — my son-in-law — even more than my son.”

However, Youn admitted uncertainty about the response she may receive back home. “I don’t know what kind of reaction I’ll face when I return to Korea. They might throw books at me,” she said. “I hope Korea becomes more open-minded, but I’m still not sure.”

Youn married singer Cho Young-nam in the United States in 1975 and had two sons. After their divorce in 1987, she raised the children as a single mother.

This article is translated by a generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.