Shoo, a former member of the girl group S.E.S, candidly opened up about the time her life fell apart due to gambling.
On the 8th, Shoo launched her YouTube channel 'Human That's Shoo' and posted her first video titled 'The Controversial Incident.. I Will Tell Everything Today (First Release)'.
In this video, she drew attention by appearing with her husband, former professional basketball player Lim Hyo-sung, and confessed about the past overseas gambling incident, saying, “I never clarified through any articles. Ultimately, I did gamble. I got involved through an acquaintance I met at an event in Las Vegas, USA.”
She reflected, “In the end, it was true that I did it, but I was so naive about the world. I thought, ‘This is life’ regarding my downfall. After some time passed, I went to a gambling (addiction prevention) association and said I would be an ambassador. Knowing the ins and outs, I thought I could say, ‘Let’s be careful about this.’”
Lim Hyo-sung shared, “At that time, there was already a trouble between Shoo and me, and we were living apart, but I received a call saying money was needed.” He added, “After retiring from being a player, my income wasn’t great. When I heard the debt was 250 million won, I thought about it for a day and borrowed from friends the next day to give it to her. But then, she didn’t come back for another day and night.”
Hearing his words that Shoo had been in such a difficult time that she even thought about death, she eventually burst into tears.
Lim Hyo-sung said, “I told Shoo not to do anything else, not to put on a facade in front of people, and not to be cowardly,” and Shoo replied, “It’s true that I ruined everything. I feel so sorry for our children, so I’m trying to live hard now,” while she was choked up with tears.
Later, Shoo added in the comments, “This is the first time I’ve shared my story. It took courage, but now I want to live as my true self. Please share your warm thoughts in the comments.”
Previously, she was indicted for habitual gambling amounting to about 790 million won from August 2016 to May 2018 in places like Macau, receiving a sentence of 6 months in prison, 2 years of probation, and 80 hours of community service. Additionally, she was sued for failing to repay gambling funds amounting to hundreds of millions, which was settled through mediation in November 2020.
