"Oh Eun-young Report—marriage hell" set its highest ratings of 2026.
On the 7th, according to ratings tracker Nielsen Korea, the 162nd episode of MBC's "Oh Eun-young Report—marriage hell" (abbreviated Marriage Hell), which aired on the 6th, recorded 3.8% in the metropolitan area and 3.6% nationwide, rising from the previous week. The key channel-competitiveness indicator for viewers aged 20-54 was 1.8%, ranking first among all channels in the same time slot and second among all channels for the day. Above all, that broadcast rose to first place among all "Oh Eun-young Report—marriage hell" episodes aired in 2026, confirming viewers' strong support.
That episode depicted the story of the "Ji Jeong-seok couple," a husband who has remained silent in the same spot for 47 years and a wife who has long harbored resentment toward him. The wife lamented that her husband's economic indifference had become a deep, bone-deep grievance, and the husband complained that he was deeply hurt by the wife's blunt manner of speaking. The "Ji Jeong-seok couple" revealed a series of stories that were hard to believe were true, shocking viewers at home.
The "Ji Jeong-seok couple" drew attention with their polar opposite daily lives. The wife, who leaves the house in the early dawn, spends her days busy year-round as a caregiver in the morning and an activity support worker in the afternoon. By contrast, until the wife finishes work and returns home, the husband's only routine is watching TV. The husband, who had watched TV in the same spot all day, hurriedly turned off the TV when the wife came home. The wife, who kept smiling even through hard work, unleashed a storm of nagging at her husband the moment she got home. The husband said the wife's harsh expressions had hurt him throughout their marriage and eventually caused him to stop speaking.
The wife, who described herself as a viper, blamed her husband as the person who made her that way. In particular, she said her husband spent money only for himself without a sense of responsibility for the household's livelihood. He had engaged in gambling and horse racing in the past, and recently had become addicted to lotteries. Bearing the household alone amid the husband's economic indifference, the wife vented, "I don't think this grievance will be resolved until I die." She also exposed the husband's violent behavior. When she, frustrated that the husband did not work and only napped, splashed water on him, he beat her with a wooden stick until she passed out. The husband said he was too drunk at the time to remember anything, which made the hosts sigh.
The detail that shocked viewers the most was the husband's affair. The wife revealed, "My husband's affair partner was the wife of my husband's dead friend," stirring the studio. The husband said, "I had liked the friend's wife before. It hadn't been long since the friend died, and I'm crazy. That woman isn't interested in me. Only I liked her," recounting how he confessed to the woman. Dr. Oh Eun-young said flatly, "Some people think it's not an affair if there is no sexual relationship, but feeling continuously special emotions toward someone other than your spouse also counts as an affair."
Meanwhile, the husband also claimed that the wife had an affair. He said a regular customer used to wait for the wife in front of her shop when she ran the store. He also said the wife had made the mistake of investing hundreds of millions of won in a barren plot of land without consulting him. The wife denied, "The affair is not true at all," and expressed hurt at the husband for only pointing out failures without providing financial help.
In the end, the wife shed tears over long-standing resentment toward her husband and anxiety about their future. The husband also showed red eyes, saying he regretted and felt sorry for not being affectionate enough to his wife and children and that "it is painful; I don't have the courage to die," expressing that he was not loved by his family.
Dr. Oh Eun-young diagnosed that both spouses were in a depressed state. She said the wife, who usually appears cheerful, harbors depression beneath the surface, and the husband, who seems to have lost the will to live, is also emotionally lonely and depressed. Dr. Oh Eun-young delivered a healing report recommending that the husband offer a sincere apology to his wife and that the wife practice properly closing the chapter on the past. Forty-seven years filled with irreparable wounds and regrets. At the end of the broadcast, the "Ji Jeong-seok couple" expressed the apologies they had been unable to say to each other, creating a heartwarming moment.
[Photo] Provided by MBC.
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