Hong Seok-cheon Complains of Stress After Coming Out
"Receives up to 100 Counseling Messages a Day via SNS"
Oh Eun-young: "It's Not Right to Carelessly Counsel Unknown Strangers"
On the 26th, broadcaster Hong Seok-cheon appeared on Channel A's entertainment program "Oh Eun-young's Geumjjok Counseling Center." Photo by Channel A entertainment program "Oh Eun-young's Geumjjok Counseling Center" video capture
[Asia Economy Online Issue Team] Broadcaster Hong Seok-cheon opened up about the difficult days he faced after coming out.
On the 26th, Channel A's entertainment program 'Oh Eun-young's Geumjjok Counseling Center' (hereafter 'Geumjjok Counseling Center') aired an episode featuring Dr. Oh Eun-young listening to Hong Seok-cheon's concerns and providing sincere counseling.
Hong Seok-cheon confessed to insomnia caused by stress. He said, "People think of me as having a bright image, but when I'm alone, I am very serious," and revealed that he once contemplated extreme measures after coming out. Hong said, "The things I had been holding back and enduring burst out when my family said just one word. It was different from the hurt caused by insults from strangers," and disclosed that he left home and went to Mapo Bridge at that time.
He continued, "My insomnia is severe. I came out 21 years ago and have been counseling people in similar situations through social networking services (SNS). Because of that, so many people contacted me that I couldn't sleep."
Hong Seok-cheon said, "They even made games among themselves using my replies. They questioned me, 'Why don't you reply?' At some point, I felt a sense of futility that I should stop." He added, "I receive up to 100 messages a day, and recently about 30 to 40 messages daily," and lamented, "Not only counseling requests but also self-employed people asking to borrow money appear frequently, which is exhausting," shocking viewers.
Oh Eun-young expressed concern about Hong Seok-cheon's serious psychological state and advised that it is inappropriate for Hong, who is not a professional, to provide counseling. When Oh asked, "Do you think your counseling helps?" Hong replied, "It might not help. Since I'm not an expert, giving wrong advice could have the opposite effect. Sometimes I wonder, 'Why am I giving this advice to this person?' Because I don't know the exact situation well, I say things like, 'If it were me, I would probably do ~.' I'm meticulous but timid."
Then Oh Eun-young explained, "The proper purpose of counseling is to strengthen that person's inner strength. It is not about helping or solving their problems. People keep saying they are helping, but that's charity work. Counseling is a process of building the person's inner strength," adding, "It might help temporarily, but you need to carefully judge whether it truly helps."
She continued, "You should not casually counsel unknown, unspecified people. Such counseling carries a very high risk. You must establish an objective and neutral position. You need to set a system and schedule. Also, during the counseling process, you should not have personal contact. If you accept all contacts because someone is anxious, their inner strength will not develop," she advised.
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