Jo Yoon-hee Stayed at Her Daughter's Side Throughout a Malaysia Camp: "I Had No One Else to Spend Time With Roa"

Actress Jo Yoon-hee said she had no one else to spend time with her daughter Roa during an English camp in Malaysia, so she stayed beside her and looked after her throughout. She said she made the trip because she wanted to experience another world and show it to Roa.

A single mother's trip to Kuala Lumpur

Jo married actor Lee Dong-gun in 2017 and had her daughter Roa, but the two divorced in 2020. She has since raised her daughter while balancing work and parenting. In the video, she revealed that she wanted to give the child a new experience.

Before this, Jo visited Malaysia during Roa's winter vacation. She drew attention at the time by posting a photo of Roa in the uniform of a private international school in Kuala Lumpur. While Roa took part in the school's English camp, Jo is known to have stayed locally and joined the schedule as well.

Talk among three mothers on YouTube

The topic came up in a video titled "Realistic Talk of Moms Who Want to Send Their Kids Abroad to Study," posted on the 18th on the YouTube channel "Hwang Jung-eum." In it, Hwang Jung-eum shares a meal with Jo and Shim I-yeong and talks candidly about children's education and parenting. Topics ranged from overseas camps to studying abroad, and Jo's experience in Malaysia drew attention.

Hwang first mentioned her own plan to take her children to a camp abroad. "I said we should take my kids to a camp, but we haven't gone yet," she said, expressing regret, before asking Jo, "Unnie, you went this time, right?" Jo replied, "I went to a camp in Malaysia with my daughter Roa earlier this year."

Hwang was impressed that Jo had taken her child abroad to a camp alone. "You're strong. Doing that all by herself. Yoon-hee unnie is amazing," she said. The reaction was that handling a schedule in an unfamiliar country with a child is no easy task, which made Jo's decisiveness and drive stand out all the more.

"I went because I wanted to"

Jo was also frank about why she chose the camp. "I went because I wanted to go. I wanted to experience a different world too, and I wanted to show that to Roa," she explained. That means she did not simply send her daughter to a camp to build English skills; she wanted to experience a new environment herself and share it with her child.

On the ground, Jo also stayed by her daughter's side and took charge of her care. "I don't really have anyone to spend time with Roa, so I stuck close and took care of her the whole time," she said. Hwang replied with empathy: "She's the best friend, after all." Jo did not hide the practical reality of having to look after a child alone, yet she came across as someone who cherishes time with her daughter. Her approach, spending time beside her child and experiencing the world together rather than relying on elaborate education plans, struck a chord with viewers.

Read the original (Korean)