Se-ri Pak reveals the weight of responsibility behind her post-retirement career

Golf legend Se-ri Pak has revealed the reasons behind her decision to balance broadcasting and business activities following her retirement. It was not merely an expansion of her professional scope or a pursuit of new challenges; she is driven by the responsibility to run a foundation and a company intended to instill dreams in junior golfers, which includes securing the livelihoods of the employees working there. She spoke candidly about the weight of these responsibilities, including monthly payroll obligations, tax burdens, and the difficulties of navigating social life, such as having to make requests and deal with awkward situations with strangers.

During the 65th episode of tvN STORY's "Table Tales" aired on the 2nd, Se-ri Pak and Kim Chang-ok shared their thoughts on their changed lives and work since retirement. While tasting seasonal blue crab, Kim Chang-ok reflected on his past, noting how he had been so focused on work throughout his life that he had not even properly experienced the taste of seasonal foods. Se-ri Pak empathized, stating, "I was the same. I only worked. I think my thoughts changed a lot around the time of my retirement. Especially after experiencing a slump."

Se-ri Pak revealed that she had originally planned to retire from professional golf around the age of 40, with the intention of focusing on nurturing talent and discovering prospects. This dream had been a personal goal since she ventured onto the international stage in 1998. However, her perspective shifted as she witnessed her own challenges becoming a source of new hope for others.

"When I first went abroad in 1998, it was a personal dream. I thought of it as my own dream and challenged myself, but I realized my dream was becoming someone else's dream. My thinking changed the moment I realized that," she recalled. She realized that her success could serve as a catalyst for juniors to dream of new possibilities rather than ending as a purely personal glory.

Following this realization, Se-ri Pak set a goal to create a foundation of hope where juniors could dream. "Anyway, I had seniors and now I have juniors. I wanted to do something that helps juniors and becomes a source of hope for prospects to dream, which is why I started operating the foundation and the company I have now," she explained. This signifies that she is continuing her new life by running a foundation and business to pass on the experience and influence she built as an athlete to the next generation.

Kim Chang-ok expressed admiration for her, saying, "She is such a wonderful person." However, Lee Young-ja pointed out another reality of her activities: the foundation and company have employees, which brings the responsibility of paying monthly salaries. Lee Young-ja asked when her most suffocating period was, noting, "The wonderful thing is that Se-ri Pak has to pay salaries at the end of the month. Doing 'Table Tales' is all for the purpose of paying the employees' salaries."

Se-ri Pak's answer was unexpectedly simple: "First, the 1st. Salaries go out on the 1st." The cast burst into laughter at her honest confession that the beginning of each month is her greatest burden due to payroll. However, for a business operator, salaries are not just an expense but a responsibility directly linked to the livelihoods of employees. While she was responsible for her own matches and results as an athlete, she is now in a position where she must manage the livelihoods of others as a leader of an organization.

The next most burdensome item was taxes. When Lee Young-ja asked about other difficulties besides salaries, Se-ri Pak replied, "Taxes." Kim Chang-ok laughed, noting, "She is thoroughly realistic. Number one is salary, number two is taxes. What is number three?" Beyond just working to earn money, the recurring costs of maintaining a business and managing an organization have become a practical concern for Se-ri Pak.

The third difficulty cited by Se-ri Pak was adapting to a new social life. "Since I am someone who only did sports, it was very difficult. Starting something new was not easy. Especially broadcasting and creating opportunities to meet people," she confessed. As tournament preparation and participation were the center of her life during her long athletic career, the situation of having to personally seek out people and build relationships after retirement was unfamiliar.

"Before, I couldn't go out and meet people like that. Because I was an athlete, it wasn't important. What would an athlete preparing for a tournament do?" Se-ri Pak said. "After retiring, I have to go around myself, make requests, and say things that are hard to say. That was a bit difficult at first." She added that because she is not naturally someone who approaches others in a friendly manner, the process of forming necessary relationships and making requests was not easy.

In response to this confession, Kim Chang-ok interpreted Se-ri Pak's personality and actions positively. He praised her as a kind person who, unlike himself or Lee Young-ja, takes care of her staff by providing delicious food, saying, "The synonym for the language of action is the language of the soul. She is a person who says everything through her actions anyway. People like that are eventually experienced and called the real deal." He evaluated her as someone who conveys sincerity through actions even if she is not accustomed to expressing friendliness through words.

Se-ri Pak's retirement, after achieving numerous accomplishments on the world golf stage, was not merely the end of an athletic career. It was the start of a new responsibility to expand her own dreams into hope for juniors and to make those dreams a reality through her foundation and company. Her appearances on broadcasts have become one of the necessary activities in that process. Even while dealing with the cold realities of employee salaries and taxes, and the difficulty of reaching out to strangers, Se-ri Pak's life after retirement—sharing her experience for the future of juniors—has resonated with many.

Read the original (Korean)