Ko Ji-yong, Reveals Late Reason for Divorce from Heo Yang-im: "Our Son Seung-jae Asked Me" [Interview ①]

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

Ko Ji-yong, a former member of the group J-TVL, revealed why he had kept his divorce from his ex-wife, Heo Yang-im, undisclosed until now.

On the 5th, at a cafe on Nonhyeon-ro in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Ko met with StarNews to discuss various topics.

Ko married Heo Yang-im, a specialist in family medicine, in 2013, and they have a son named Seung-jae. The family gained significant popularity after appearing on the KBS 2TV variety show "The Return of Superman" in 2017. However, Ko recently disclosed that he had reached an amicable divorce with Heo in April 2024. Currently, Heo holds custody and guardianship of their son.

At the time of announcing the divorce, Ko stated on his social media, "I divorced my wife two years ago," explaining, "The reason I did not make it public was that I wanted to protect our son Seung-jae so he could fully accept the situation and grow up stably."

On this day, Ko explained the background behind keeping the divorce private, saying, "My son first said, 'I hope my friends' moms and dads don't know (about the divorce).' I interpreted that as a request not to tell anyone. That is why I had not spoken about it until now."

He continued, "As time passed, people began to become curious. We decided it would be better for us to disclose the information directly rather than having it come out through others' mouths."

In particular, Ko confessed that he was deeply worried about his son being hurt when the divorce and subsequent legal disputes became public.

He said, "Of course, it is overwhelming and burdensome. We are adults who have gone through many hardships in life, but our son is at an age where he has no reason to experience such things." He added, "I was most concerned about Seung-jae being hurt."

Meanwhile, Ko and Heo have recently been involved in a legal conflict over issues including visitation rights for their son, Seung-jae.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original