Did you know this about him?
Actor Jung Il Woo has revealed family background details he had rarely spoken about in the past, creating an unexpected twist. It turns out that he comes from a prestigious professional family connected to the cultural heritage field, academia, journalism, and medicine!
Jung Il Woo opened up about his family while appearing on KBS2’s Problem Child in House, where he was promoting the weekend drama Brilliant Days. The first person he mentioned was his mother.
“My mother is currently a Cultural Heritage Committee member at the Cultural Heritage Administration. She earned her doctorate in China and also researched ancient textiles in Korea.”
Viewers were particularly struck to learn that as the head of the Ancient Textile Research Institute, she is one of the seven cultural heritage experts who evaluate holders of Intangible Cultural Properties and Human Cultural Assets.
Speaking about his mother’s career, Jung explained that her sense of style had strongly influenced his career as well.
“When I was filming Diary of a Night Watchman, my mother personally designed the patterns for my hanbok costumes. “When I auditioned for High Kick Through the Roof, I wore a leather jacket my mother bought me, and I got cast in that. Whenever I had an audition, my mother would pick out or make clothes for me.”
More admiration followed when he spoke about his father. His father had been the captain of his high school kendo club as well. His father later worked as a KBS reporter and then became a distinguished professor at a university, spanning both the media and academic worlds.
Another topic that drew attention on the show was the revelation that Jung Il Woo is a descendant of the scholar Jeong Yak Yong. His maternal side also has an impressive background. His maternal grandfather was known as a prominent figure in the medical world who served as the director of a general hospital. With his mother’s career in cultural heritage and textile research, his father’s experience in journalism and academia, and his maternal family’s foundation in medicine, it naturally led to him being seen as coming from an elite family