"Why didn’t our parents act as parents?"… A painful question from a sibling adopted in France, Lee Gun-joo's tearful confession
On 'Dad and I,' Lee Gun-joo opened up about the pain of adoption with his sibling.
In TV Chosun's 'Dad and I,' Lee Gun-joo, who was reunited with his brother Lee Gun-cheol, adopted to France at the age of 1, had a heart-wrenching conversation facing the reasons for adoption and their family history for the first time.
That day, the sibling asked Lee Gun-joo, "Why didn’t you raise us? Why didn’t you act as parents?" presenting the questions they had kept in their hearts for a lifetime.
In response, Lee Gun-joo cautiously began to unveil the family's past. "Grandfather passed away early, and grandmother raised the three siblings alone. In that situation, father enlisted around the time I was born, and by the time he was discharged, you were born. However, our parents parted unknowingly, and you were ultimately left at grandmother's house."
Lee Gun-joo continued, "Father had just been discharged, and mother was only 20 years old. During the time we were born, even our aunts were students, and grandmother couldn't afford to take care of her grandchildren. Yet, she struggled to raise us somehow, but in the end… she decided to send you for overseas adoption, hoping that at least one of us would grow up in a better environment."
Lee Gun-joo remarked, "Grandmother has lived with guilt over that choice her entire life," adding, "I also heard this story for the first time now." The siblings were left speechless, and the younger sibling reddened their eyes, saying, "That couldn’t be helped."
A wound from the past that no one could easily bring up. That day, the siblings quietly embraced each other's hearts.
[OSEN]