Family Drama and 'Excel Marriage' Unfold on Channel A's 'Detectives' Secret Business'

A father who had registered his illegitimate child from an affair as his ex-wife's legitimate child has promised to rectify the family records after a 16-year silence. Meanwhile, a real-life inspired segment on 'Detectives' Secret Business' revealed a couple whose marriage was meticulously calculated in terms of 'costs', leading to a shocking and bitter end.

On the episode aired on the 30th of last month, Channel A's 'Detectives' Secret Business' featured a segment titled 'Detective 24 Hours', where a daughter's request to correct the family records of her half-sibling, born from her father's affair, led to a dramatic resolution after a 16-year-long phone call with her father. After a long disappearance following his divorce, the father promised a swift correction of the family registry, bringing an end to the complicated family saga.

The daughter had previously requested the detectives to find her father to correct the registry, as the illegitimate child was listed as her mother's legitimate child. However, tracking down the father was not easy. The detectives visited the address on the official documents, only to find he had moved. They also missed him by a day at the hair salon he ran after remarrying. Persistent efforts by the detectives finally led to a face-to-face meeting with the father at his new salon.

The father blamed the daughter's mother for the conflict, claiming she had repeated abortions. He stated, "I am the only son in five generations, so I longed for a son. I met this woman (the mistress) and had a son, so I chose him." Kim Poong questioned the logic, saying, "Why would you register such a precious son under your ex-wife's name?" Yoo In-na also found it hard to understand. The daughter's mother countered the father's claims, stating she had suffered two miscarriages due to thyroid issues and had received treatment.

In the subsequent phone call after 16 years, the father apologized and promised to correct the registry. However, the daughter expressed no desire to meet him, and Defconn empathized, saying, "It's understandable given the father's long absence."

In another segment, 'Case Notebook', a husband's request to investigate his wife's mysterious nightly disappearances took an unexpected turn. The detectives discovered that the wife, who had been fired for leaking insider information during her time at a securities firm, was secretly helping a couple who moved in upstairs with their overseas stock investments.

The case, thought to be resolved, reignited when it was revealed that the wife, who was planning a pregnancy at her husband's request, was secretly taking birth control pills. The background to this was an 'Excel marriage', where everything from wedding costs, living expenses, and household chores to visits to each other's families and even intimacy were meticulously calculated as 'costs'. The husband's insistence that the wife buy her sanitary products with her own money led her to question the marriage deeply.

The decisive event occurred when the husband learned of the wife's job loss. He offered to cover all living expenses but demanded she take over all household chores, subsequently neglecting them himself. Defconn commented, "He didn't have to say it like that... There's a fine line between being a husband and being a jerk." The 'Excel couple's' marriage, precise in calculations but lacking in consideration, ultimately reached an irreparable rift, leading to their divorce.

Guest detective Lee Seok-hoon, celebrating his 10th wedding anniversary, remarked, "Marriage doesn't go as planned. It's about overcoming difficulties together and becoming stronger," expressing his dismay. He added, "You can't skip this show. Experiencing it on set made it even more engaging." Lee Seok-hoon married a ballerina in 2016 and has a son.

Lee So-jung, TenAsia Reporter forusojung@tenasia.co.kr