Comedian Park Seong-gwang's wife and businesswoman Lee Sol shared the pain she endured during her battle with cancer as well as the insights and changes she gained from it.
Recently, Lee Sol conducted an interview at the OSEN office in Mapo-gu, Seoul. She said these days, "I've been busy filling each day to the brim with work," and she added, "Rather than working for a special purpose, after I got sick my values in life changed a lot. I want to fill my life with things I want to focus on more tightly."
Currently running a shopping mall brand, Lee Sol said, "I started with jewelry and expanded into bags, shoes and fashion accessories. And I do live commerce about five times a month. I also run a market while communicating on Instagram, and I'm on leave from graduate school," describing her 'pro multiple-jobber' daily life. She added that, drawing on her experience working at a pharmaceutical company, she recently started a cosmetics distribution business distributing beauty products from warehouse-style pharmacies. She said, "Being so visible online while working felt like a bit of a risk for my life as a whole. So I wanted to do businesses I could run behind the scenes," and explained, "It's been about half a year since I started, so it's settling in, and requests keep coming in so I'm traveling on business by region."
Lee Sol surprised people last April when she revealed she had been battling a women's cancer. At the time she said, "After leaving my job and naturally preparing for a child, I was diagnosed with cancer five months later. I underwent surgery and cytotoxic chemotherapy for six months, and I'm still taking medication and receiving treatment," drawing sympathy. Lee Sol said about her current health, "I'm taking medication and continuing checkups now, but it's not a complete cure yet. Professors and my mom and dad worry a lot because I keep posting on Instagram every day. But I believe I will be healthy."
She continued, "Aside from my health, I seem to be someone who needs to work. I think it's my disposition. Rather, work seems to save me. So I work regardless of my health and believe I'm healthy," explaining why she stays busy working even while undergoing treatment.
Fortunately, Lee Sol has been regaining her health, receiving good results on periodic checkups after surgery. She explained, "It fluctuated a bit. There was a time when my cancer markers were highest and I was very scared, but the professor treated it as nothing serious. Patients tend to look for something with even a small change, thinking, 'Won't this affect the results?' But it wasn't, it only rose within the normal range. Since then I've always gotten a perfect 100."
However, she said it is still not a complete cure. Lee Sol confessed honestly, "It's been four years since (I had) chemotherapy, but they say it usually takes about five years to be considered cured. I don't know if I will be declared cured at five years. I may have to take medication longer. Although I was in the early stage, the nature of the cancer itself was strong. So the chemotherapy had to be strong, and it was a fast-growing one. I had clearly been getting checkups every year. But as soon as I left the company, various awakening hormones in my body dropped, and what had been festering inside overcame my immunity and surfaced. A malignant tumor appeared in a place where there certainly had not been one six months ago, and it grew fast, so it had to be cared for quickly. So I don't know if I can be declared cured at five years."
Lee Sol began her battle with cancer around 2022. She did not reveal that fact for about three years. She said, "After 'Same Bed, Different Dreams' ended, I continued working at the company for another year. My performance was good. But then I suddenly started receiving threatening notes and got so scared that I quit the company. At that time I felt bittersweet, but I thought I could do something else with my know-how and abilities, but then I got sick within three or four months. I got sick right after resigning and was left lying at home as if my limbs had been cut off. After that I wanted to live somehow. So when the sun rose I went out and took photos I liked. That doesn't cost money or take effort, and it made me happiest, so I just posted those. Because I kept posting photos like that steadily, many people did not notice I was sick."
She said she confessed her cancer battle belatedly because of malicious comments. Lee Sol tearfully recalled, "I'm generally somewhat positive, so even if many people left malicious comments and made many groundless speculations and misunderstandings about our relationship, I remained silent. But to the public that seems really hateful. I never click on my own articles," and she cried thinking about the malicious comments. She said that even during her pharmaceutical company days she suffered misunderstandings such as being accused of 'selling with her looks' because she was a woman in a male-dominated company, and she proved herself through results by working desperately without even eating every day. But even after leaving her job, rumors such as 'she married for money' continued to follow her.
Lee Sol said, "I was living with sincerity, but I realized the way people looked at me was not that. So I hadn't been reading articles, but around last March I woke up in the morning, put on a hat and took a mirror selfie. I posted something like, 'a small-head hat my brother bought,' and an article came out, and there was nothing to criticize. So I mustered the courage to click it. But all the top comments were insults: 'She doesn't have kids and goes on trips and spends her husband's money.' In fact, I earn more money, and I still buy things with my own money. My husband and I are not financially dependent on each other at all. But apparently it looks that way. I saw so many such cruel comments that my heart suddenly dropped like a roller coaster and my hands trembled. It's okay for people to dislike me, but when they misunderstand me, I felt I had to correct it, so I wrote a post."
She continued, "After seeing that, many people supported me, and people who had been quietly supporting me left comments. Actually I didn't want to reveal it because it was a women's cancer. When the cancer was found as I prepared to have a child at 33, I had to have hormone treatment, which meant I couldn't have a child. The sense of loss that I had lost my femininity was so great that I fell into deep depression. I felt like I was no longer a woman. So I didn't want to disclose it. But that situation was too painful. I wondered, 'Do I have to keep explaining myself and my life like this?' I'm not making money from this or a broadcaster, so why do I have to live under this attention and explain myself? That was so agonizing."
After gaining attention from appearing on SBS 'Same Bed, Different Dreams 2 – You Are My Destiny,' she had a hard time from malicious comments that followed her, but Lee Sol said, "Now I just accept it." She said, "When an article comes out I think, 'So that's me.' If I don't like that, I should leave. So it's true that I'm doing things behind the scenes like distribution. Someday the internet will all disappear and I'll just operate the brand and handle distribution, and I feel like I should stop opening things, but on the other hand I don't want to lose the people who have become numb and come to support and say kind things. I'm conflicted about these thoughts," and she explained, "I know there are many people who view me with supportive eyes. Even though my identity is confused, I'm going inward more to focus on myself and live a denser life. I always use Instagram, but I just post and focus more on my life."
That did not mean the wounds from malicious comments were healed. Lee Sol said, "It's always a wound. New malicious comments appear. Malicious comments evolve too. Now people write malicious comments that don't seem like malicious comments. I still get hurt. But I feel a bit callused. When I think about how I've been living since 2020, it's been about six years. After receiving that continuously for six years, I developed some calluses. Who likes being hated? I just don't look. I've learned not to look."
She also recounted the time when she first received the cancer diagnosis. Lee Sol said, "When I think about it I'm still so terrified. I hope 'no one else goes through it.' It was that desperate an experience. I had a tissue biopsy and the day I heard the results was a Monday. That's why I still don't see a doctor on Mondays. I have a fear of going to the hospital on Mondays because of the trauma. When I heard, 'It's cancer,' my mother immediately collapsed. I suddenly became a cancer patient in 20 minutes. I underwent tests without knowing how the cancer had spread in my body, what the situation was, or how many years I might have left. The fear that moment brought felt like the world had immediately ended. 'Then where do I go? What about my soul?' The feeling was indescribably desperate and unbearable."
She continued, "That day I got the diagnosis and brought the diagnosis and biopsy report home and looked at our wedding photos and felt sorry for my parents-in-law. They had been waiting for a child but now I couldn't have one, so I thought, 'I'm being unfilial to my parents-in-law.' I like my parents-in-law so much that I felt so sorry and regretted my whole life. 'Why did I live like that? If I'm going to end my life early because my health failed, why did I work so hard? What did that life bring me?' It was all useless. If I die it's over," she said through tears.
Even in that situation, Lee Sol immediately embraced 'positivity.' She said, "I'm a naturally positive person. Maybe because of that unique positivity and confidence I thought, 'I can do it. It's okay, I can do it.' Of course there were hard moments, but overall I was positive. So when I woke up in the morning I always ate good vegetables, did more than an hour of cardio, walked an hour, looked at beautiful and good things and sunlight, and laughed a lot. I tried to find pleasures I could have even at home. I didn't want to be trapped at home."
She added, "My body is exhausted when I get chemo. But after three or four days it gets so much better that you wonder when you had chemo. I felt gratitude for every part of my body. I think gratitude and positivity were the only answers. The professor said the same. People who live overly worried and sensitive do worse than those who live a bit recklessly thinking, 'I'm already healthy.' He said people who live that way have better prognoses. So I lived that way. It may sound obvious, but when you're diagnosed with cancer and face the possibility of death, the things we hold onto are gratitude and positivity. Gratitude and positivity are the most important attitudes in how I approach life. I always try not to forget that."
Alongside positivity, diet management became a daily routine for Lee Sol. She said, "I always have broccoli, tomatoes, and bell peppers for breakfast, with side dishes like nuts, natto, sweet pumpkin and black soybean soy milk, choosing among them. I feel the power good ingredients from nature give the body is tremendous. My husband didn't live like that for a long time, but after trying it he felt his health change dramatically, so now he always makes sure to eat them."
Regarding her relationship with Park Seong-gwang, she said only now do they seem to have "truly found each other's lives." Lee Sol said, "Maybe my husband was right. Early on when I posted on Instagram he told me, 'Don't post that.' When he didn't want to appear much on YouTube I felt hurt. But as I let him be a little more, my life became more autonomous. I thought, 'This was right,' 'he's wise.' He is preparing a new film and has been preparing for more than a year. He's busy with that, and I'm busy with my own things," saying they are each doing their best in their respective roles.
Asked about Park Seong-gwang's reaction when she confessed her cancer, she said, "He kept telling me not to post it. 'Won't you have a hard time when an article comes out? If you post this another article will come out. Don't post it,' he said. But I said, 'It's unfair but no one listens to me and I'm the only one getting insults. I'm not trying to fight a particular internet user; I just want to say this is why it's like this.' I said, 'Even a photo of me wearing a hat gets insults, and if this continues I'll really become someone who is seen as knowing my husband only as an ATM. I'm too upset so I can't not post it,' and I just posted. Later he said it was probably a good thing I posted. My husband is sensitive and has a fragile mentality, so because he knows it's hard for him too, he doesn't want me to keep bearing that burden," conveying his sincere concern as a husband.
Asked about future broadcasting plans, she expressed the burden of public attention: "Until recently I kept getting offers for a talk program, and I thought, 'If doing that builds inner intimacy and lets people get to know me better, could I enjoy and move into that field?' But on the other hand I feel it would still be hard and scary. I'm afraid someone will keep recognizing me, writing about me and such, so I think I probably won't do broadcasting if possible."
Lee Sol drew attention by saying her values changed after her illness. She said, "I used to be like a racehorse. Completely ENTJ, goal-oriented with clear objectives and a performance-centered person. I spent 10 years from my 20s until 33 like that, but then I got sick. I realized far too early that you never know what will happen to a person. Now I live without a purpose, going with the flow. Being faithful each day is everything, so I don't have a plan like 'This is how I'll live.' It's just 'live satisfactorily today.' Live without regret or lingering attachments. So these days when I make choices I consider, 'Will I regret this or not?' There will always be things I regret, but I choose what I think I will regret less."
She continued, "Before I was fascinated by achievement and speed. Even now I shout 'I can do it,' but back then I was the kind of great player who would make unreasonable things happen, saying, 'Why not?' Above all, I had goals. When I was in my 20s my father was cheated badly in business and our household struggled from age 20. As the eldest daughter, I had that sense of responsibility. So I tried to earn a lot. I wanted to increase my annual salary and was attracted to high incentives. I preferred work over company dinners and preferred meeting people who produced results over socializing. I didn't want to waste time. But now I waste time. I realized time spent on myself is so precious."
She said, "Now it's okay to go slowly, so I'm living a very dense life. And I find meaning in working itself rather than placing importance on results. Of course, because I have 10 years of work skills, when I do something I never do it sloppily and always do my best, but I'm not overly attached to the results afterward. I've changed in that way. Also, in the past others came first, but now I come first."
Asked about her future plans, Lee Sol said, "I want to keep starting various things. In the past I would set one goal and run like crazy, but once I achieved it I immediately burned out. So when I trained employees and taught juniors I used to say, 'You should set the next goal after the goal.' Now I don't have that, yet life is very happy. So rather than thinking 'I should become a CEO' or 'I should be a representative,' I think if I work hard and enjoy it, the money will follow. So I haven't set any particular goals. I'll just live without regret and do everything I want to do before I die."
On plans for YouTube activities she said, "It's been about five months since I stopped, but if I do it I want to do it consistently and persistently. I had to stop this time for unavoidable reasons, but if I get into the mindset to do it consistently I'll do it then. I'm interested in fashion and beauty, so if there are beauty tips exactly needed for people our age I want to focus on those. Beauty and fashion are my interests so I think I could enjoy doing that. I also want to be a bit of a nagging older sister. I think I've experienced a lot for my age. It could be about relationships, health, or shifting values. Having worked in a tough place for 10 years, I want to do content like counseling on various concerns."
She said she has received many counseling contacts from other cancer patients after confessing her battle. Lee Sol said, "They contact me saying, 'I had this kind of cancer and overcame it like this,' or 'In this situation how did you manage your skin?' or 'My hair isn't growing well, what did you do?' Seeing that even when people are inevitably sick they want to diet and be pretty, I empathize a lot. I was like that too. So I do a lot of that counseling."
Lee Sol's determined continuation of her life even while undergoing treatment has offered comfort and hope to others in similar situations. She said, "When women experience cancer they often feel their femininity is gone and experience a sense of loss. Women in the stage of life when they would be giving birth and building a family feel like the pathway is completely blocked and their pace slows, and many young female cancer patients feel that and suffer depression. I substituted that feeling by cultivating myself and spending more time focusing on myself, so some people view that positively. Through Instagram and YouTube many people say, 'I could become like you, sister.' Some even contact me saying their cancer recurred, and when I see that my heart breaks with them. We can never be completely free from that fear, and that danger always lurks. Still, I live believing I will be cured," she said, conveying positive energy.
When asked if she had any words she wanted to share in the interview, Lee Sol said, "When I meet younger sisters or friends I tell them, 'Don't try to live too hard.' I do work hard, but people in their 30s have many roles to handle. Some are mothers, daughters, daughters-in-law, wives, working moms with jobs, and aren't we crushed by too many roles? If you try to do all of this like a supermom, eventually you get sick. I have people around me who love me without me having to prove myself in any role. Ultimately, the sum of happy times spent with those people can be seen as life. So I tell people not to be so obsessed with 'I must do everything well,' 'I must be a 100-point mother,' 'I must be a 100-point wife,' but to find meaning in happily spending time with people who stay by your side without requiring you to prove yourself."
She said she had always tried to handle everything herself rather than relying on others, but cancer taught her to lean on people. Lee Sol said, "During chemo I couldn't do anything and became like a newborn. So I inevitably relied on my mother and husband. But when I relied on someone and was protected, I realized how much courage that gave me. Knowing someone would protect me didn't make me hide inside that protection; it gave me the courage to go outside. Those times are necessary for us to gain strength. I always tried to do everything myself, so when I see young friends trying to do that I nag them with this advice."
She said she learned how to lean on others only after experiencing the special situation of battling cancer. She recalled, "When my husband and I filmed 'Same Bed, Different Dreams' the company was in Jongno and work started at 9 a.m. We were building our newlywed home in Gimpo, and because my husband was a freelancer he'd leave in the afternoon. I would get up at 5 or 6 a.m., go to the Gimpo site to see the interior work, and then go to Jongno to start work. After work I'd return at 7 or 8 p.m. and do live commerce at 9, living a day that started at 6 a.m. and ended at 11 p.m. That repeated until the house was built while filming 'Same Bed, Different Dreams.'"
She reflected, "When I think about that time I wonder, 'How upset would my mother be to see me like that?' If you have a husband you can lean on and rely on, why did I act like a fool and not take that rest, splitting up sleep and recovery time and living like that? Thinking about myself then makes me feel really foolish. But now I don't do that. I'm living centered on myself."
[Photo] Lee Sol
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