Yunji seeks skin care immediately after tearful airport farewell with daughter

Singer and actress Yunji shed tears as she boarded a flight to Korea alone, leaving her young daughter behind in the United States. Amid the reality of living with her family abroad while simultaneously maintaining professional activities in Korea, the moment the mother and young daughter were briefly separated led to a more emotional scene than expected.

On the 14th, Yunji released a video on her YouTube channel titled 'What I did in Korea without Ella.' Living in the United States, Yunji made a brief trip back to Korea to attend scheduled medical appointments and business engagements.

Ahead of her departure, Yunji appeared uneasy at the fact that she had to be apart from her daughter, Ella. "My heart feels so heavy because I have to go without Ella. I wonder if she'll be okay?" she said, revealing the complex emotions of a mother leaving her young child behind.

Her consideration for her daughter continued right up until her departure. Yunji reportedly prepared seaweed soup, mac and cheese, pasta, and curry in advance so that Ella could eat them while she was away. Rather than simply going on a trip, she made sure to fulfill her duties as a mother before leaving to minimize the gap in childcare.

The moment of farewell at the airport was even more poignant. When Yunji hugged her daughter, Ella tried her best not to let go of her mother, and Yunji watched her daughter, saying, "She must know I'm leaving. She's trying not to let go."

She then offered a greeting, saying, "Ella's mommy will be back soon," but her young daughter's reaction was more intense than expected. As Yunji tried to move toward the departure area, Ella burst into tears. Yunji recalled the situation at the time, saying, "I was trying to leave Ella to go to the gate, but Ella cried so much. The airport was filled with Ella's crying."

Yunji confessed that her heart was so shaken that she didn't even have the mental strength to turn on the camera. While her final greeting, "Mommy will go and do well. I love you, my daughter," was brief, it captured the reality of a mother continuing childcare in the US and an entertainer who must maintain her career in Korea within a single sentence.

To Yunji, Ella is more than just a family member; she is the center of her life. After marrying Choi Woo-seong, the son of comedian Lee Sang-hae and traditional musician Kim Young-im, in 2021, she gave birth to a daughter in 2024 and has steadily shared her daily life of parenting while living with her family in the United States.

In particular, Yunji is showing how she balances childcare and her personal schedule due to her lifestyle of traveling between Korea and overseas. Unlike the period when her activities were centered in Korea, the landscape of her daily life has changed in that her family's base of living and her entertainment activities are now located in different spaces.

After arriving in Korea, Yunji immediately attended to her schedule. Complaining that her skin had become dry and dull due to heavy exposure to sunlight in the US and the long-distance flight, she visited a dermatology clinic. Afterward, she handled a busy schedule immediately upon her return, eating the gopchang (small intestines) she had been craving and moving on to a makeup appointment.

This part makes the atmosphere of the video feel even more realistic. Although she was a mother leaving her daughter at the airport, the moment she arrived in Korea, she had to return to being an actress and broadcaster. In a situation where emotions for her family and professional responsibilities are physically separated, what Yunji ultimately chose was to carry out her scheduled tasks one by one.

While the overseas residence and childcare of celebrities is no longer an unfamiliar sight, in actual life, the physical condition of distance inevitably acts as a significant burden on family relationships. Especially for parents with young children, a few hours of flight distance and gaps in schedules are not just a matter of movement, but lead to issues of care and emotional bonding.

In that sense, Yunji's recent video draws attention because it brings 'Yunji as a mother' to the forefront rather than the glamorous daily life of a celebrity. The process of preparing food for her daughter, hugging a child who refuses to let go at the airport, and eventually heading to the departure area leaving the tears behind is closer to a record of emotions familiar to any parent than the daily life of a star.

Yunji previously debuted as the singer NS Yoonji and expanded her field of activity into acting, and since her marriage and childbirth, she has revealed her life of balancing her career with living with her family. In this video as well, the process of having to briefly part from her family before starting the schedule left a stronger impression than the glamorous schedule itself.

Ultimately, the most difficult moment of this trip to Korea was not the flight time or the busy schedule upon her return. The few minutes she had to walk toward the departure gate, leaving behind a daughter who wouldn't let go of her hand, remained the longest moment for Yunji. It was a scene that fully revealed her current life of balancing work and family while traveling between the US and Korea.