‘I didn’t have any money to eat with my friends’: Queen of Tears actor Park Sung-hoon refutes rumours he’s from chaebol family

While South Korean actor Park Sung-hoon plays rich and badass characters in hit drama series The Glory (2023, as Jeon Jae-joon) and Queen of Tears (2024, as Yoon Eun-sung), it is actually quite the opposite for him in real life.

The 39-year-old revealed in a recent episode of talk show You Quiz on the Block that he once lived in a semi-basement flat — similar to the one in Oscar-winning Korean film Parasite — for seven years while pursuing stage acting.

“My elder sister lent me the security deposit and I paid for my rent every month,” he said to hosts Yoo Jae-suk and Jo Se-ho.

Sung-hoon, who is currently filming the second season of Netflix thriller drama Squid Game, also shared the poor living conditions he was in at the time, where the living room would flood during rainy seasons.

“The water would reach till my calves. If I don’t manage it, it will flood to my chest. There is also a limit in scooping out water using a dustpan, so I would use winter blankets to absorb the rain water and squeeze it out in the toilet repeatedly,” he said.

He also refuted rumours that said he hails from a chaebol (family-controlled conglomerate) where his relatives are lawyers and doctors.

“I didn’t grow up in a rich family,” he clarified to Jae-suk, adding that his family was not doing well financially after his father left the bank he was working in during the Asian financial crisis in 1997.

Sung-hoon was in high school at the time and said that he didn’t have any pocket money other than transportation fees.

He shared: “Once, a group of my friends went out for a movie and wanted to eat hamburgers later, but I didn’t have any money, so I squatted on the staircase outside to wait for them.

“My friend knew of my situation and wanted to lend me some money, but it hurt my self-esteem, so I told him, ‘No, I am not going to eat it.’ I called my father later and cried while telling him that I didn’t have any money to eat with my friends.”

When he was serving his military service and had a break after eight months, he called his mother to tell her that he was coming home.

He recalled: “My mum said, ‘Sung-hoon, can you not take leave? Your father and I are surviving on water, rice and kimchi. If you return home, I have to give you some pocket money and I don’t have any.’

“I cried at the time.”

Sung-hoon also shared that just before he completed his military service, he worked part-time jobs during the weekends, such as in an apparel store and bars and giving out flyers.

Queen of Tears centres around Hong Hae-in (Kim Ji-won), heiress to departmental store Queens Group, and her lawyer husband Baek Hyun-woo (Kim Soo-hyun), whose parents are farmers. While they face a marital crisis and are on the verge of divorce, Hae-in finds out that she is terminally ill.

As they navigate around Hae-in’s deteriorating condition and a crisis in her family involving Eun-sung and his mother Mo Seul-hee (Lee Mi-suk), their love rekindles.

All episodes are now available on Netflix.