Appearing as a guest on the YouTube channel 'Shall We Listen' in 2024, Jung Sun-hee shared, "I wanted to find the peace I never received from my father through marriage, but I directly felt the weight of accepting another person's soul into my life."
She continued, "Ahn Jae-hwan was deeply depressed due to financial issues, and I didn't know that these financial matters were eating away at him. I was too busy," she confessed. "When I heard about his suicide 10 months after our marriage, it didn't feel real. It was denial of reality."
After the tragic news of her husband's death, Jung Sun-hee faced harsh times. Reflecting on her feelings, she said, "First, it was denial of reality, and second, there was immense guilt. 'Was it because I didn't provide the money?' I started to review all my actions.
Where did it go wrong for my husband to make such a choice? Suddenly, the sense of loss that he was gone. It was during the honeymoon phase, just 10 months into our marriage. It was draining," she confessed. She added, "Amidst all this, I was plagued by rumors like 'It's her fault. She has issues. They were kidnapped together, but she was released after paying.'
"I had an experience that felt less like giving a witness statement and more like being interrogated as a suspect," she lamented. "In the honeymoon phase of 10 months, it's a time when love dominates despite any marital disputes. The desire to see him and the sadness were all mixed up, and in the midst of being hit and cut by emotions, people started looking for someone to crucify, and that was me," she revealed, evoking sympathy.
Jung Sun-hee particularly opened up about why she didn't report his disappearance for over a week. She said, "I thought he would naturally come back. There was a bit of conflict because the money wasn't arranged, and I even thought childishly, 'Is he misunderstanding that I didn't lend him money even though I had it? Is he taking revenge on me like this?'"
She added, "Despite that, the reason I didn't report his disappearance for over a week was primarily due to the potential image damage as a celebrity. My husband was running a business at the time, so I thought, 'I need to hide him,' 'I won't let him off when he returns,' 'I need to vent my anger.' I never imagined he would return in such a state."
Jung Sun-hee married actor Ahn Jae-hwan in 2007, but they parted ways in 2008 due to his passing.
Na-yeon Cho, Ten Asia Reporter nybluebook@tenasia.co.kr