Singer Jaejoong made his first appearance on a terrestrial station (MBC, SBS, KBS) talk show in 15 years as he appeared on 'Radio Star.'
On the show, he revealed that he was adopted into a family with many daughters at the age of three, but he didn’t find out about this until after his debut with TVXQ.
On the October 16th episode of MBC's 'Radio Star,' Kim Byung Man, Jaejoong, Kim Dong Jun, and Cao Lu appeared as guests in a special episode titled "Masters of Survival."
Jaejoong, the youngest in a family with eight older sisters, shared, "I was adopted when I was young. At three years old, I was taken in by a family with eight daughters. At the time, I didn’t know I was adopted. It wasn’t until after my debut with TVXQ that I finally found out."
He went on to explain, "I found out later, and even after knowing, it was uncomfortable for both my family and me to bring up the word 'adoption'."
The most surprising part of his story was when he revealed the moment he learned about his adoption. It happened during a music video filming after his debut.
He explained, "While we were filming the 'Believe' music video in Busan, I got a call from an unknown number. At that time, I was constantly harassed by calls from obsessive saesang fans, so I didn’t want to answer, but strangely I had a strong feeling that I should. When I answered, the person said, 'Jaejun, how have you been?' I thought, 'Who’s calling me by my childhood name, which only my aunt used?' Even though the caller didn’t reveal who they were, it felt like all the pieces of the puzzle clicked into place. That’s when I learned I was adopted."
He continued, "After looking into the situation, I found out the company had created a photo book. They included photos of me from my early childhood, and those pictures were taken before I turned three. That’s how my birth family found me."
Jaejoong also touched hearts by sharing that many people around him had kept the adoption a secret to protect him from being hurt. He said, "When you're young, people think it's best to keep the adoption a secret, right? Most of my friends knew about it, but they all kept it as a secret from me."
He also spoke about the youngest sister in the family, who was close in age to him, saying, "My sister and I are only 10 months apart in age. We were always together in the same school year, but because we lived in a small town, she never celebrated her birthday on her actual birthday to prevent rumors from spreading. She hid her birthday because of me. It was only when we became adults that she could finally celebrate it on the real date. I’m truly grateful to my sister for sacrificing so much and hiding her birthday for such a long time."
The story of Jaejoong's birth mother garnered much attention in the past. In February 2013, MBN's 'True Story Theater' aired an episode featuring Jaejoong’s biological mother, Oh Seo Jin, who opened up about her tumultuous life story.
Born in 1962 into a prestigious family in Eumseong as the daughter of a surrogate, Oh Seo Jin was denied her family’s care simply because she was a girl, and she was burdened with all the household chores.
Later, her family fell into financial ruin due to her father’s debt guarantees, and her father suffered a stroke. Unable to afford tuition, Oh Seo Jin dropped out of high school in her second year and obtained a telephone operator certification to find work. She eventually entered into an arranged marriage, but upon returning from her engagement trip, it was revealed that she was the daughter of a surrogate, leading to the engagement being broken off.
Oh Seo Jin, who was pregnant at the time, gave birth to the child on her own. She later met and married a civil servant who was five years her senior, and they had a son, Jaejoong. However, her husband turned violent whenever he drank, and she fled with her two children.
Though she tried to raise both her children in poverty, she eventually had no choice but to send Jaejoong to another family. Oh Seo Jin fell into severe depression, overwhelmed by grief and the sense of loss after sending him away.
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