IU, Hyeri and Chungha all paid off their families’ debts – 6 K-pop idols who gifted billions of won to the parents who supported them on their way up

May 19 , 2021

IU, Zico and Chungha are three of the six K-pop idols who spent their first earnings helping their families to pay off debts. Photo: @dlwlrma, @woozico0914/Instagram, handout

It hasn’t always been peaches and cream for every K-pop idol. While some South Korean stars are famous for being born into “silver-spoon” families, many idols come from average family backgrounds. Don’t believe us? How about this: some even paid off their family’s debts after earning their first pay cheques. Here are six idols whom you’d never expect to have come from such humble backgrounds.

Hyeri from Girl’s Day

Hyeri from Girl’s Day is currently the cream of the idol-turned-actress world. Not only did she hit it big with her role in Reply 1988, but she is slated for two more dramas in 2021: My Roommate is a Gumiho and When Flowers Bloom, I Think of the Moon.

Hyeri debuted in 2010 at 16 and by 2014 she’d done well enough, according to Koreaboo, that she could buy an apartment in Jamsil, Seoul for her family, as well as an imported luxury car for her dad.

Jung Eun-ji from Apink

Best known simply as Eunji, she told fashion magazine Grazia about her family’s struggles with money. “I thought that once I have money, I would pay off the debt so that we could live without any worries. The time for it came unexpectedly and I gradually paid off the interest and then the principal.”

She took her mother on a trip back to where she had had her honeymoon on Jeju Island and made her a meal: “I set up a table for my mother and pushed the bankbook towards her and she cried. We embraced each other and cried together.”

Besides being the main vocalist for Apink, she also appears in musicals, on soundtracks for dramas and even starred in Reply 1997 as the female lead.

IU with the brown Gucci horsebit. Photo: @dlwlrma/Instagram

IU famously grew up with her grandmother when she was younger, due to both her parents having to work for a living. According to Koreaboo, while it was not an unhappy childhood, they were living in a basement, in a cockroach-infested room. This was due to her mother’s misfortune in signing as a guarantor of a debt and the debtee then fleeing.

In 2011, IU revealed on a TV variety show that she paid off all of her parents’ debt after the success her 2010 release Good Day. Since then, things have only been looking up as she has become South Korea’s top female soloist as well as an in-demand actress with appearances in the Netflix anthology series Persona and the K-drama Hotel Del Luna.

Jo Kwon from 2AM

Despite the fact that he was a ballad singer, 2AM’s Jo Kwon consistently worked hard on variety shows to prove he was also funny, often showing off his “kkap dance” that soon became a trend. KpopStarz revealed that after some dark times for his indebted family, he was able to pay off his family’s debts, and went on to buy his mother an apartment.

Zico

Zico started off as an underground rapper, later joining boy group Block B. Now, he’s better known for his solo work as both a producer and a rapper. He even runs his own entertainment agency, KOZ Entertainment. According to Koreaboo, he spent most of his first billions of won earned on paying off his family’s debts. He says he felt obliged to do so out of gratitude as his parents had never pressured him to pursue a career he didn’t want, despite their financial difficulties.

Chungha

Chungha hit the jackpot after debuting through Produce 101’s girl group, I.O.I. Later on, she became a successful solo artist. KpopStarz reported that Chungha still receives an allowance from her mother, as her mother handles her finances. Though her money was used to pay off the family debts, otherwise her mother doesn’t touch her money, just providing her with spending money and saving up the rest.

Though they earn millions now, kudos to all the idols out there putting their families first.

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South Korean celebrities

After making it big in 2010 with the song Good Day, IU has had success on stage and screen, in the Netflix series Persona and the K-drama Hotel Del Luna
After success with K-drama Reply 1988, Hyeri of Girl’s Day is in two more in 2021: My Roommate is a Gumiho and Think of the Moon When the Flower Blooms