Park Jung-min, from 'You Quiz on the Block,' confessed that he became the representative of a publishing company for his father, who has a visual impairment.

On the 11th, the tvN entertainment show 'You Quiz on the Block' (hereafter 'You Quiz') depicted Park Jung-min revealing the reason why he became the head of a two-person publishing company.

That day, Park Jung-min, who established the independent publishing house 'Muje,' attracted attention by sharing the story behind the production of audiobooks.

Park Jung-min introduced a book that he planned in 2021 and completed after a whopping four years, explaining, “It started with the concept of listening to novels. Traditionally, the order is to create a paper book first, then an e-book, and finally an audiobook. But we decided to produce an audiobook right away. So we introduced it first to visually impaired readers, and a month later, the paper book hit the bookstores.”

Yoo Jae-suk asked, “The main reason for making the audiobook is because of your father, right?” to which Park Jung-min replied, “My father originally had a visual impairment. He has had it since childhood. So, from a long time ago, we couldn't leave anything on the floor. I wanted to give books first to not only my father but also to people with visual impairments.”

Meanwhile, Park Jung-min noted that writer Kim Geum-hee also joined in after hearing the purpose, along with around 15 fellow actors, including Hwang Jung-min, Yum Jung-ah, and Choi Yang-rak, who contributed their talents.

In particular, Park Jung-min revealed that the reason he decided to produce audiobooks stemmed from his father’s vision issues. He recalled, “During middle and high school, my mother kept cleaning the floor. I used to say, ‘Do it later,’ but my mother got angry. I found out later that she was cleaning to keep things out of reach for my father, who couldn't see. That was when I realized that my father had serious visual issues and a disability.”

He added, “He had poor eyesight since childhood. That’s why he couldn’t drive, which made me frustrated, wondering, ‘Why can’t my dad drive?’”

Meanwhile, Park Jung-min caught attention by confessing that his father had an accident and completely lost his sight around the time when the first book of his publishing company was about to be released. He shared, “It was right before filming '1 Victory.' My mother kept calling. I felt something was off, so I answered, and she said to come to the hospital quickly. My father had worsened eyesight and had injured his eyes, losing his vision. Seeing my father upset after that day broke my heart even more.”

He continued, “Even though my father lived for 60 years with a visual impairment, after he completely lost his sight, I felt that I was pitiful for thinking he couldn't see. I felt a sense of shame about feeling like ‘I'm the son of a person with a disability.’ At that time, I found my self-pity very shameful and ugly.”

He remarked, “The one who lived uncomfortably throughout his life was my father. That was when I first thought I needed to create something for my family.” He recalled, “I clearly remember that my father never threw away books. Even with poor eyesight, there were books on the shelf at home that were old and yellowed from reading. I learned from my father since childhood that we don’t throw away books, so I also don’t throw books away.”

After becoming the representative of the publishing company, Park Jung-min said, “The first book came out, but I felt troubled about gifting it to my father since he can’t read anymore. Whether he reads it or not, giving it to him is correct, but not being able to read at all is another issue.” This led him to think about creating an audiobook for his father.

He also shared meaningful moments through a book talk with visually impaired readers. He expressed, “Around 80,000 types of paper books are published each year. We can choose from all 80,000, but visually impaired people cannot access them unless they are made into audiobooks.” He hopes that the audiobook project will succeed and provide visually impaired readers with plenty of enjoyable options.

[Photo] Captured from the broadcast screen of 'You Quiz on the Block.'

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