Lee Ji-hyun Expresses Guilt Over Malicious Comments Directed at Her ADHD Son Following TV Appearance

Lee Ji-hyun, a former member of the K-pop girl group Jewelry, has belatedly opened up about the pain caused by malicious comments she faced after appearing on television with her son, who was diagnosed with ADHD.

She confessed that her decision to appear on the program—a difficult choice made solely to help her child—ended up leading to unexpected criticism, causing her to feel intense self-reproach.

During her appearance on the YouTube channel 'Saeropge Hasoseo' on the 9th, Lee reflected on her time on the Channel A variety show 'Dr. Oh Eun-young's Golden Counseling Center' (Oh Eun-young's Geumjjok Sangdamso) in 2022, where she appeared alongside her son, Woo-kyung. She revealed that the direct catalyst for deciding to participate in the show was the fact that her son had been forcibly expelled from his kindergarten. She explained that while she desperately wanted to help her child, she did not know how to properly raise him and felt a dire need for professional assistance.

Lee emphasized that her decision to appear on the broadcast was not an impulsive one. She stated that she made the decision after sufficient deliberation and consultation with the production team and the assigned PD, and that she genuinely wanted to receive help from the renowned expert Dr. Oh Eun-young. She clarified that it was not a decision to expose the private lives of celebrities, but rather a desperate choice made as a parent to resolve her child's difficulties.

The issue began when the situation unfolded in an unexpected way during the filming process. According to Lee's explanation, her son's problematic behaviors did not stand out prominently during the early stages of filming. Consequently, the production team determined that it was necessary to make the child's issues more apparent to facilitate effective counseling and improvement. Lee recalled that the production team proposed intentionally stimulating the child to accurately pinpoint the issues, and that such situations did indeed occur during the actual filming.

The nature of the broadcasting medium—where specific scenes can be edited to become the central narrative rather than representing the entirety of daily life—also intensified her emotional wounds. Lee confessed that while she could endure some criticism directed at herself, it was nearly impossible to bear the malicious comments aimed at her son. She had to watch as the very act intended to help her child change turned into an onslaught of attacks against him.

“I felt like a sinner to my child,” she confessed, noting that she still carries feelings of apology toward him. She mentioned that although she usually avoids reading malicious comments, as a mother, she could not turn away from anything related to her child. Ultimately, the more she checked the comments, the greater her emotional agony became, describing the sensation at the time as "feeling like my very flesh is being torn away piece by piece."