As Koo Jun-yeop, a member of the group Clon, mourns the passing of his wife, the late Taiwanese actress Seo Hee-won, his former mother-in-law is facing criticism for “using her daughter-in-law for profit.”
On the 6th (local time), Taiwanese media Liberty Times reported that on the day Seo Hee-won's remains arrived in Taiwan, her former mother-in-law, Chinese entrepreneur Zhang Lan, conducted a live commerce broadcast.
The broadcast was terminated about an hour later due to reports from netizens, and it is said that the former mother-in-law earned 1 million yuan (approximately 100 million won) through it.
In response to the criticism that she is “exploiting her deceased daughter-in-law for her own benefit,” the former mother-in-law reportedly said, “I don’t care whether it looks good or bad. I have 7,000 employees to support, so I have no choice but to broadcast.” It is also reported that she mentioned false information during the broadcast, claiming, “My son rented a private jet for Seo Hee-won’s family.”
Seo Hee-won suddenly passed away from pneumonia accompanied by the flu while on a family trip to Japan on the 2nd. The family completed the cremation process in Japan, and Koo Jun-yeop moved the remains to Taiwan on the 6th.
Afterward, Koo Jun-yeop expressed on Instagram, “Right now, I am going through a time of indescribable sorrow and pain, feeling as if my insides are being torn apart. I have no strength to say anything, nor do I want to,” but added, “However, before the immense pain of loss and mourning has passed, devilish people have begun to slander my family and my love. Some pretend to be sad while wandering around in the rain, while others are creating fake news about insurance and costs to hurt our family.”
He also stated regarding Seo Hee-won’s estate, “What Hee-won worked hard to accumulate to protect her beloved family during her lifetime will be entirely entrusted to my mother-in-law. I plan to take legal measures to protect the children’s rights through a lawyer until they become adults, so that bad people cannot touch them.”
Seo Hee-won debuted in 1994 with her brother as part of the group ‘SOS’ and is also famous for being the female lead in the Taiwanese drama ‘Boys Over Flowers.’ In Korea, she was known as ‘Taiwanese Geum Jan-di,’ named after the female lead of a domestic drama.
Seo Hee-won also drew attention for her movie-like love story with Koo Jun-yeop. Seo Hee-won dated Koo Jun-yeop for about two years in the late 1990s before breaking up, and later married Chinese businessman Wang Shao-fei in 2011. However, they divorced in 2021, and upon hearing this news, Koo Jun-yeop reached out to Seo Hee-won, leading to their reunion. The two became a couple in 2022 after a 20-year wait, but their tragic separation came just three years later.
