Son Ji-chang "10 Billion Jackpot, My Name Still Comes Up When People Talk About 'Celebrity Gambling'"

Actor Son Ji-chang appeared on TV Chosun's "Sikgaek Heo Young-man's Baekban Journey."
[Photo by TV Chosun, screenshot from "Sikgaek Heo Young-man's Baekban Journey"]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Seo-young] Actor Son Ji-chang has sparked attention by mentioning the so-called '10 billion won jackpot.'

On the 17th, actor Son Ji-chang appeared as a guest on TV Chosun's "Sikgaek Heo Young-man's Baekban Journey" (hereafter "Baekban Journey"). Heo Young-man brought up the topic by saying, "When you think of Son Ji-chang, you can't leave out Las Vegas." Previously, it was revealed that Son Ji-chang, along with his wife Oh Yeon-soo and mother-in-law, hit a jackpot worth about 10 billion won at a casino in Las Vegas, USA, which became a hot topic.

In response to Heo Young-man's question, Son Ji-chang said, "It has been talked about for over 20 years. Even now, when the topic of 'celebrity gambling' comes up, my name is mentioned." He added, "At that time, (my mother-in-law) put in 6 dollars into the machine and ended up winning 9.47 million dollars," and "When calculated at the exchange rate at the time, it was a bit over 10 billion won." He also explained, "If you wanted to receive it as a lump sum, you could only get 40% of the total amount, and about 30% was deducted as foreign withholding tax."

The final amount left was 2 million dollars, approximately 2.3 billion won. When Heo Young-man expressed surprise, Son Ji-chang said, "That money is still a large sum, but it was far from satisfying the initial expectations," which brought laughter. When Heo Young-man recalled the public opinion in Korea at the time, saying, "The article reported it as 10 billion won without any deductions. So I thought it would be hard to see Son Ji-chang in Korea," Son Ji-chang replied, "I wanted to do that too, but it didn't work out."

Son Ji-chang has been effectively retired as an actor since finishing "Heroic Age" in 2004. Regarding the question about stopping his acting career, Son Ji-chang explained, "After our second child was born, my wife said she wanted to work," and "I didn't want to leave the children with someone else and go out. When I was young, I hated entering an empty house by unlocking the door with a key," and "I thought I should stay with at least one of the children."