In the January 28 broadcast of TeugjongsengPark Jae Hyun broke his long silence. Debuting in 1996 in a youth drama, he was once considered a promising newcomer before becoming a familiar face on Mystical TV: surprise. However, he confessed that life off-camera was far from glamorous.
“I hated being confined to the title of ‘reenactment actor’” he admitted, explaining that the label made him feel boxed in and stripped of his identity as an artist. Although spectators recognized him on the street, income from reenactment programs was insufficient to support his role as breadwinner.
Determined to provide for his family, Park put aside his pride and took on various jobs, from working as a lighting crew to running small SNS-based businesses. Yet the “former actor” the label often stood in the way of new opportunities. Eventually, he left for Vietnam, hoping to start over where no one recognized him. However, his attempt to start a restaurant business abroad also ended in failure, pushing him to what he described as rock bottom.
The driving force behind his relentless efforts was his eight-year-old daughter, born with a rare congenital condition in which her heart is positioned on the right side of her chest. Since birth he has undergone four major surgeries. During the program, Park broke down in tears during a video call with her, saying: “I feel like a sinner for having made her suffer because she met an inadequate father.”
To cover mounting medical expenses he even prepared to open a bar with a partner in Vietnam, but settling abroad proved too difficult. After just three months, he returned to Korea, without a stable place to stay. Unexpectedly, he now lives in a shamanic sanctuary.
The family’s trials didn’t end there. As she traveled across the country seeking spiritually renowned places to pray for her daughter’s health, Park’s wife, who is 16 years his junior, began to experience what in Korean shamanism is known as “disease of the spirit”. Two years ago, she finally underwent a spiritual initiation ritual and chose the path of the shaman.
Park revealed his anguish, saying: “I stopped broadcasting so that my daughter wouldn’t hear at school that her father was just a reenactment actor. Now I worry that she might be teased because her mother is a shaman.”
He currently resides in the sanctuary, supporting his wife and continuing to hope for his daughter’s full recovery and return to normal family life. Even as the glamorous stage lights that once shone on him have dimmed, Park Jae Hyun’s last ten years have not been a silent disappearance, but a father’s relentless battle.
Audiences once smiled at his performances on screen. Behind the scenes, he endured hardship in silence for the sake of his family. Today, viewers are rooting for Park Jae Hyun and his loved ones to find stability and happiness, proving that sometimes, the most moving performance is the one experienced in real life.
Sources: Daum
