Lee Seon-jeong opens up about divorce, panic disorder, and financial struggles

Actress Lee Seon-jeong has expressed her determination to make a comeback, opening up about a difficult period marked by a long hiatus, financial hardships, and panic disorder. Moving away from her former life as a prominent actress, she revealed her current reality of working in her mother's restaurant kitchen, vowing a new beginning: “Now it is my turn to show them again.”

On the 24th, a video titled “‘There is no place left to retreat to’—The will to make a comeback shared at Mom's restaurant” was released on the YouTube channel ‘Lee Seon-jeong's Selection.’

In the video, Lee appears not as a glamorous actress on stage, but in a humble light, wearing an apron and rubber gloves while working in a restaurant kitchen. She shared her daily life of working silently—taking orders, boiling noodles, and doing dishes—at the restaurant operated by her mother.

“This is my mom's restaurant. If I don't work, aren't I just unemployed?” Lee said. “I prefer helping my mom with her work rather than staying at home.” She explained that while she initially came just to help with serving, she has now taken on full kitchen duties, including boiling noodles and moving heavy pots.

“At first, I couldn't even boil noodles. I came just to help with serving, but eventually, I ended up boiling noodles and doing the dishes,” she said, sharing her candid feelings: “It is hard to make a living. It is so hard.”

In particular, she spoke openly about the financial burden she faced during a nearly two-year hiatus from her professional career. Lee confessed, “I just rested deeply during that time. If a celebrity has no work, aren't they just unemployed? I survived on the money I had saved before, but now it has almost run out.”

She continued to reveal the emotional scars left by the hiatus, saying, “The financial aspect was difficult, but it felt empty because I wasn't working. I felt like I wasn't doing anything even though there were things I could do.”

Lee also cautiously addressed the pain of her brief past marriage. Recalling how she married after only 45 days of dating but divorced after just 4 months, she said, “Back then, it was so hard that I wanted to die, and I suffered from severe panic disorder.”

However, she noted that her way of processing those wounds has changed over time. “As 14 years have passed, I have become much more desensitized,” she said. “In the past, I couldn't even appear on broadcasts if people knew I was divorced, but now I don't think being divorced is a flaw.”

She expressed a strong will to move forward, saying, “Now, I want to break free from my shrunken self and move forward again.”

She also shared her experience receiving treatment for panic disorder. Lee stated, “My heart would race so much that I could hear the sound in my ears. The hospital told me I must take the medicine, so I took it.”

She added, “I wondered how long I could endure through sheer willpower, so I even stopped taking the medicine at one point. Even now, I always carry the medicine in my bag. If I feel like symptoms are coming, I reassure myself by saying, ‘It's okay because I have the medicine.'” However, she confessed that anxiety symptoms, such as her heart racing before falling asleep, still remain.

She also mentioned the difficult times caused by past media coverage. “I was very stressed because the media only portrayed me in a very negative light,” she said. “It felt like misunderstandings were only growing if I stayed quiet, so it only became quiet after I did one last interview.”

Recently, she said she discovered new possibilities through YouTube. “I was very inspired by seeing friends who have 1 million or 2 million subscribers,” she said. “I felt that now it is my turn to show them.”

She declared her determination, saying, “I am confident I can show it with sincerity. What is there that I cannot show? I will show you everything.”

Lee, who was once loved by the public as a star actress, is now attempting to re-emerge through content bearing her own name and her authentic daily life. Her current, more sincere appearance, rather than her glamorous heyday, is serving as a signal for a new beginning.