As wild rumors about the size of the late actor Choi Jin-sil’s inheritance go viral, her mother has stepped forward to set the record straight.
On the 5th, YouTuber and former reporter Lee Jin-ho released an interview with Choi’s mother, identified as Ms. A. After Choi’s daughter, Choi Jun-hee, announced her marriage, talk resurfaced online claiming Choi’s estate was worth “hundreds of billions of won.” Ms. A said that claim does not reflect the reality.
According to Ms. A, the liquid assets confirmed at the time of Choi’s passing were about 1.5 billion won. However, once the accounts were frozen after her death, various costs—such as penalties from advertising contract cancellations, related lawsuits, and taxes—piled up, rapidly reducing the cash on hand.
Choi’s major remaining assets were a house in Jamwon-dong and an officetel, reportedly inherited 50–50 by her two children, Choi Hwan-hee and Choi Jun-hee. The properties have not been sold and are operated as rentals, with a monthly rental income of about 15 million won split between the two.
Ms. A also discussed her grandson Choi Hwan-hee’s education. “When Hwan-hee was in sixth grade, he entered an international school in Jeju and studied there for about eight years,” she said, adding, “The bank calculated that tuition cost around 100 million won per year.”
Addressing the repeatedly circulating claims of an inheritance worth hundreds of billions of won, she said, “It’s heartbreaking that stories that aren’t true keep spreading,” and emphasized, “At the very least, I want to correct what isn’t factual.”
She also shared her feelings about her granddaughter Choi Jun-hee’s marriage news. “I first learned about my granddaughter’s wedding plans through YouTube,” she said. “When I heard it, I thought of my daughter and cried a lot.”
Choi Jin-sil passed away in 2008. Her two children were raised under Ms. A’s care. With Choi Jun-hee now publicly sharing her marriage plans, public interest in the family’s history and the inheritance issue has surged again.