Former short-track national team skater Kim Dong-sung shared that he is working as a day laborer.
On the 4th, the "One Mic" channel uploaded a video titled ""Financial hardship, seizure sticker".. Kim Dong-sung and his wife became day laborers after losing everything."
That day, Kim Dong-sung left at dawn with his wife, In Min-jung, to go to a construction site. He said he has been going to construction sites for work for two years and "It is true that I used to earn a lot. I used to earn a lot, and I really lived a life that others envied, but after I went through one pain I gave away everything. And after that I was in a situation where I couldn't do any work. As it became one year, then two years, I couldn't be economically active, so my current wife almost supported me and I just kept accumulating debt," he said, describing financial difficulties after his divorce.
He added, "In the past I lived without such economic difficulties, but now I thought I shouldn't live like this. The reason I came to this kind of site work is that for a while I couldn't even do what I'm best at, coaching, and because of that child support is very overdue. It's my obligation and as a father of two children it's a responsibility I must carry to the end. So to resolve that quickly, now early in the morning, from the early dawn, Min-jung, my current wife, and I go out and work hard together," he explained.
He recalled his first memory of the site, "When my wife first dropped me off at the site, she was taking a child who didn't want to go to school to school and watching from the front whether the child went in or not. The child really didn't want to go and resisted, but once I started working I adapted. Now wherever the site is, I'm trying to adapt and do it."
When asked why she sent Kim Dong-sung to the construction site, In Min-jung said, "Before he started site work, he was in a situation where he couldn't do anything. I encouraged him that a man who can do even this is much cooler than one who does nothing. Honestly, I also felt very uncomfortable, but I think I gave him courage and sent him to the site," she revealed.
For athletes who won Olympic medals, pensions are provided. But Kim Dong-sung said, "I received a pension even before winning the gold medal at the 1998 Nagano Olympics. If you count totals, excluding domestic competitions, there might have been about 100 world competitions. After my first marriage I applied for a language training program sent by the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) and I was selected. I went for language training, but the amount they provided wasn't enough. They said if you get permanent residency, tuition becomes much cheaper. So I applied for permanent residency. A few months later the permanent residency came through immediately. Then the National Pension Service (NPS) contacted me and said that if you receive permanent residency your pension eligibility will be revoked. I proceeded hastily without checking those things. At that time that 1,000,000 won was an enormous amount to me, and it's such a pity that by mistake I lost that 1,000,000 won," he said, saying he lost his pension eligibility because of his mistake.
He said, "Because of this person, I truly feel I can do anything. Being on the ice is the most impressive and the best, but my wife always says that was the past. Winning medals on the ice was the past, and if I can't go back there now, it's okay to do anything as long as my body is healthy, so do whatever I can," expressing gratitude to his current wife.
He continued, "Anyway, isn't there a Winter Olympics next February? I keep knocking on ice rinks, and on weekends I volunteer to watch young kids, but now it's not volunteering — I will knock on ice rinks here and there so I can teach the skills I have and show a good performance on the ice. I'm grateful that so many people remember me as short-track's Kim Dong-sung, and although my current appearance is not on the ice but at sites, if we meet again for another shoot I'll show you how we've changed on the ice, living well and free of financial problems," he added.
Meanwhile, Kim Dong-sung married his wife A in 2004 and had one son and one daughter, but they divorced in 2018 after 14 years, and in May 2021 he registered his marriage with his current wife, In Min-jung, and they are living together. At the time of the divorce, he agreed to pay 1,500,000 won per month to each child, a total of 3,000,000 won, from January 2019 until the children reached adulthood. However, A filed for an enforcement order with the Child Support Enforcement Agency, saying Kim Dong-sung had not paid child support since January 2020. Later, A also registered Kim Dong-sung on "Bad Parents," which discloses the identities of child support delinquents, and last year she sued him saying he failed to pay a total of 80.1 million won in child support.
Afterwards, In Min-jung appealed through her SNS about their financial difficulties and promised, "Even after the children become adults, the promise to send all child support remains unchanged. The regret over the lacking past and present is the responsibility of adults including Kim Dong-sung, and I will take responsibility for the children to the end."
[Photo] SNS, One Mic
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