Late Actress Choi Jin-sil's Mother Denies 'Hundreds of Billions Won' Inheritance Rumors

The mother of the late “nation’s actor” Choi Jin-sil (who passed away at 39) and her younger brother, the late Choi Jin-young (also 39), has spoken out directly against viral fake news claiming a “hundreds of billions won” inheritance.

Recently, unverified posts spread on YouTube and other platforms alleging that their mother, Jung Ok-soon, inherited between 20 billion and 50 billion won from her children. In a January 5 interview on Lee Jin-ho's YouTube channel, Jung dismissed it as “nonsense” and firmly denied the claims.

Jung calmly recounted her daughter’s final years. “I wondered if my daughter had lost the will to live. She stopped talking and smiling. We went to the hospital, she took medication and tranquilizers, but she couldn’t work for three years. We had no money at home. When she said, ‘I want to die,’ I asked why. She said, ‘How am I supposed to raise two kids? How am I supposed to live?’”

According to Jung, the cash-like assets confirmed after her daughter’s passing totaled about 1.5 billion won. “When we checked her bank accounts after she died, there were a few, and in total it was around 1.5 billion won. Even that was frozen immediately after her death, so we couldn’t touch it,” she said. Following legal procedures, she became the primary caregiver for her two grandchildren. “At family court, they asked the kids separately, ‘Who do you want to live with?’ and they said, ‘Grandma.’ That’s how I came to raise them,” Jung explained.

The financial strain continued due to legal fees and settling existing contracts. “We spent on lawsuits and had to cover things from contracts, so there was almost no money left. Everything went dark in front of me. I thought, ‘How am I going to raise these kids?’ My daughter was gone, my son was gone―I couldn’t keep it together. I took tranquilizers, visited a psychiatrist, and even broke down crying on the street,” she said.

Even so, seeing her grandchildren helped her regain strength. “While I was crying, the two kids were sitting in front of me. I thought, ‘How could I die and leave them?’ So I held on, thinking, ‘I have to raise them,’” she said. Jung strongly refuted the online “multi-tens of billions won inheritance” talk: “People say 20 billion, 50 billion, 70 billion won―where would that money come from? I’ve never seen money like that. All she left were one house and one officetel. After she passed, each child inherited 50%. We can’t just sell the house. If we do, the inheritance and capital gains taxes would be enormous, so it’s not realistic,” she added.

Looking back, Jung said she endured for her grandchildren. “I just lived as hard as I could. All I thought was that I had to make sure the kids studied. If money fell short, I was ready to sell the officetel to pay for their education,” she said. “I told them, ‘No one can take what’s in your head.’ Money can be taken, but knowledge can’t, so you must study. I lived with the goal of getting them through graduate school if possible.”

Meanwhile, in 2017, when she was 14, granddaughter Choi Jun-hee reported her grandmother for alleged domestic violence, stirring controversy; police later found no evidence of abuse by Jung. Investigators concluded, based on statements and input from a child protection agency, that it was a conflict with a guardian during adolescence. In July 2023, Choi Jun-hee reported her grandmother again, this time for alleged housebreaking, bringing their conflict back into public view.

Now 23, Choi Jun-hee is set to marry her fiancé, identified as Mr. Kim, who is 11 years older, on May 16. 

(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Kyung-youn)