Shim Jin-hwa: "I couldn't pay 300,000 won in monthly rent and even had extreme thoughts… It was like hell" [A-Grade Jang Young-ran]

*This content was translated by AI.

Broadcaster Shim Jin-hwa recalled her difficult past.

On the 30th, a video titled "Shim Jin-hwa's tearful courtyard house revealed for the first time: Built tenaciously from rock bottom" was posted on the YouTube channel 'A-Grade Jang Young-ran'.

In the released video, Shim Jin-hwa was shown revealing her home.

Shim Jin-hwa said, "My family wasn't well-off since I was young, so I worked a lot. I delivered newspapers starting in middle school and part-time jobs at a restaurant on Jucheong Mountain on weekends. I also worked part-time at a motel. I struggled hard to come to Seoul."

She continued, "I lived really tough in a single-room apartment and went around to all the auditions. I wanted to be an actor. But when I went to auditions, everyone told me to pay money first. The academy fee for registration was 700,000 won per month. But at that time, my single-room apartment rent was 260,000 won. My father was also sick, and before he passed away, I thought it would be good if I could appear on TV quickly, so I tried becoming a comedian thinking it would be easy."

Shim Jin-hwa successfully debuted through SBS's open recruitment, but reality was not easy. She said, "I thought everything was set, but my salary was only 400,000 won per month. It was so hard that I couldn't even afford to eat. The problem was that my father passed away and then my older brother did too. For the first time, I had my own room. The deposit for the rental apartment was from an accident insurance payout. I had no money. That insurance payout from the traffic accident was the first lump sum in my life. It was so sad."

Shim Jin-hwa continued, "The problem was the rent. To pay rent, I had to work. It was 300,000 won. Where did the mental breakdown come from? Because I couldn't pay the rent, my mother saved up the 30,000 won she earned each day and sent it to me. I was 32 years old, and even though I had worked hard, I wondered why I was regressing. Every single day felt like hell. I thought a person could die over 300,000 won. There wasn't even anyone to borrow money from. I filmed a program where I walked around collecting people's shoes to polish them, and at least I received 200,000 won per month for that. But that show ended too, so we had a wrap-up party. There were charcoal briquettes in the yard of the rib restaurant, and the moment I saw them, I thought 'That's it!' I brought the charcoal briquettes home but was too scared to use them. Thinking about my mother, I just couldn't do it. But then Kim Won-hyo came to see my play."

Shim Jin-hwa said about Kim Won-hyo, "When this person came, they told me 'A comedian named Kim Won-hyo said he likes you.' I was in a life-or-death situation, so I was even more annoyed. But this person watched the play alone. For the first time that day, I bowed to my lines. It was funny to me."

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*This content was translated by AI.