Before Covid-19, Korean stars still struggled with health issues – K-pop’s Hyuna and Yoon Ji-sung from Wanna One opened up about depression, while Reply 1988 K-drama star Choi Sung-won had leukaemia

Dec 21 , 2020

Hyuna, Kim Woo-bin and Yoon Ji-sung have all struggled with health issues. Photos: @hyunah_aa; @____kimwoobin; @_yoonj1sung_/Instagram

Even K-pop and K-drama stars deal with health issues – Hyuna opened up about her depression and panic disorder on Instagram, while 1990s star Uhm Jung-hwa spoke about her thyroid cancer diagnosis on Yoo Hee Yeol’s Sketchbook

Korean model and actor Kim Woo-bin caused a stir when he finally launched his official Instagram account at the end of last month – almost a decade after his acting debut in 2011. The news inevitably led fans to recall another time the star chose to share intimate details of life, when he was diagnosed with cancer in 2017.

As the world continues to be concerned about health during the era of Covid-19, we’re inspired by five K-pop and K-drama stars who fought various health issues and came back that much stronger.

Kim Woo-bin had nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Kim achieved great success in the mid-2010s with dramas like School 2013, The Heirs and Uncontrollably Fond. So when his agency announced that he had been diagnosed with nasopharyngeal carcinoma – or nasopharyngeal cancer – in 2017, fans were understandably shocked. As he was filming for the movie Wiretap at the time, the company and director behind the film agreed to postpone production, commenting that they “will wait until Kim fully recovers first”.

Kim Woo-bin presenting the Blue Dragon Film Awards in 2019. Photo: @100000xhumor/Instagram

After a two and a half year break – during which he underwent chemotherapy – he finally made his comeback as a presntor at the 40th Blue Dragon Film Awards in November 2019. During the event, he shared how thankful he was towards his supportive fans and his girlfriend, actress Shin Min-a.

Uhm Jung-hwa had thyroid cancer

Throwback K-pop diva Uhm Jung-hwa – aka Refund Sisters’ Man Ok – underwent surgery for thyroid cancer in 2010. After an eight-year hiatus, she appeared on Yoo Hee Yeol’s Sketchbook in January 2017 and spoke candidly about her difficult experience and how she overcame it, saying, “It was thyroid cancer. I had to get surgery, but … it damaged my nerves. Actually, I didn’t talk about this before I made this album [“The Cloud Dream of the Nine”, released in 2017]. I thought there might be problems if I revealed that I had hurt my throat and so I just endured it by myself. Part of my vocal cords became paralysed and I couldn’t talk for eight months.”