Choi Min-hwan’s Interview Backfires: Divorce Reasons & Manager’s Support for Yulhee

Choi Min-hwan gave an interview on January 13 to explain the reasons behind his divorce and address allegations of involvement in prostitution. However, his attempt to clarify the situation ended up making things worse for him.

Divorce Reason: Yulhee’s Excessive Napping

In the interview with Dispatch, Choi Min-hwan claimed that the reason for their divorce was Yulhee, stating, “We lived together for five years, and during that time, Yulhee ran away from home more than 20 times due to fights, sometimes for a day or up to a week or ten days.” He also mentioned that their first major conflict stemmed from Yulhee’s excessive napping, claiming she would sleep 18 to 20 hours a day and become angry when the issue was brought up. He also claimed that Yulhee cursed in front of his mother.

However, Choi Minhwan’s candid interview failed to change public opinion. Despite claiming that the divorce was Yulhee’s fault, the messages and KakaoTalk conversations he revealed ended up being unfavorable to him.

According to reports, they argued about Yulhee’s naps, and Yulhee left with their first child. However, some details were omitted from the interview. In the released KakaoTalk messages, Yulhee defended herself, saying, “I was so upset and angry because of how you treated me like a maid. I called my mom in the middle of the night after fighting, and when she told me to leave, I got really angry and cursed,” explaining her side to Choi Minhwan. This means the real reason for Yulhee’s excessive naps and the underlying cause of her leaving are not addressed in the article.

Many netizens questioned the reason behind the divorce over a nap issue. They commented, “I’ve never heard of someone divorcing because of sleeping too much,” “Shouldn’t we check if there’s a health problem? What’s the real issue?” and “How tough must it have been raising three kids for her to sleep all day?”

Choi Minhwan’s Manager Defends Yulhee

Moreover, Choi Min-hwan’s manager also made comments supporting Yulhee, which further hurt Choi Minhwan’s position. When Yulhee left, Choi Minhwan sent messages to his manager expressing frustration, but his manager responded by saying, “Parenting must be tough,” “Is it really about sleeping too much? Maybe she’s just tired, you should buy her some vitamins,” consistently siding with Yulhee.

Prostitution Allegations

Additionally, in the interview, Choi Minhwan admitted to asking about a “shirt room” (a type of room salon where hostesses change into shirts to serve male customers), following a recording where he inquired with an acquaintance about the absence of girls and requested “two toothbrushes and something like condition.” This raised suspicions of prostitution.

Choi Minhwan explained that it wasn’t a prostitution business but a karaoke venue for Yulhee’s birthday party. He clarified he only asked about the shirt room because there were no available rooms at the karaoke. Choi Minhwan admitted to inquiring about services at an entertainment establishment, repeating his previous statement from the police investigation, where he denied engaging in prostitution but acknowledged frequenting such places. He couldn’t provide concrete evidence to dispel suspicions, which increased public doubt.

However, Choi Minhwan’s failure to address his use of prostitution-related slang terms like “shirt room,” “condition” (condom), and “two toothbrushes” fueled public skepticism, leaving his interview to further complicate matters.