Singer Go Jeong-woo often hears this question from fans whenever he sings: “Why do you sing so sadly?” “I can feel your sincerity.” After hearing about his life off stage and where the depth of his emotions comes from, you will understand why.

Go Jeong-woo liked trot since he was young.When his peers hummed idol songs, he sang along to Na Hoon-a and Lee Mi-ja’s songs and nurtured his dreams.However, reality demanded a much steeper rhythm than the songs.When he was young, his grandmother was everything to him, not his parents.Mom, dad, friends, and guardian… To Go Jeong-woo, his grandmother was his whole world.

When that grandmother became paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident, her life changed drastically.A fifth grader in elementary school, a child who was growing up, had to support her grandmother and worry about making a living.That’s when he decided to become an oriental medicine doctor instead of a singer.”I wanted to cure my grandmother.I wanted to give her acupuncture and medicine like the elders used to.” But even that dream was a luxury.The family couldn’t even afford the tuition, and Go Jeong-woo spent his days sitting in front of the academy and watching other children come out.

To survive, he started fishing.It was literally the hard work of diving into the water and digging for seafood.”I thought about dying.I sat on the shore for over an hour.But then I heard on TV, ‘Live with the determination to die.’ Strangely, that stayed in my mind.” With that fear in his heart, he first went into the sea.In the cold winter, he couldn’t catch anything properly and was scolded, but he didn’t give up.He held on with the mindset of “let’s see who wins,” and at one point, he caught more seafood than the adults.

I didn’t waste a single penny of the money I earned that way.I worked in other people’s fields, picked wild vegetables and sold them, and saved them diligently.Eventually, I saved 5 million won during the winter.And with that money, I bought my grandmother a necklace and a ring.”She bragged about it to the whole neighborhood.That was my first paycheck and the most rewarding moment.”

It was never easy to go to school while working and working.Although I had a sense of responsibility to the point of being vice president, it was difficult to continue my studies properly.I never had a single perfect attendance, and since my parents were on paper, I couldn’t even get a reason for financial difficulties recognized.I had a precarious school life due to being marked as an unauthorized absentee, but with the help of my teachers, I was barely able to graduate.

In the process, his body was also damaged a lot.He collapsed from overwork due to the continuous material and hard labor since childhood, and was warned by the hospital, “If this continues, you will be hospitalized in your 30s.” He still has no feeling in his fingertips.Having gone through a time when he did not know that he would get frostbite in the winter, he still lives with frozen fingertips.

But the most important thing to him was always his grandmother.Go Jeong-woo grew up without parental care.His mother was never around, and he doesn’t even contact his father.Seeing his parents like that, he sometimes wondered, “How can a child be like that?” and the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to treat his grandmother better.

And in the end, his grandmother passed away in his arms.”She listened to my story until the moment she passed away.That moment is a lifelong debt and a connection.” He still often tells people around him, “Take good care of your parents while they are alive.When they pass away, you won’t hear a single phone call or nagging.”

All these moments of life are now melted into Goh Jeong-woo’s songs.The cold sea, frozen hands, grandmother’s laughter, and the times when he repeated ‘I have to live ‘every morning.All of those memories are connected to emotions on stage.That’s why his songs are special.He says.

“If there had been no time, there would have been no song or feelings like this.Right now, I am grateful that I can be a comfort to someone.That’s why I think I should live harder.”
Reporter Lee com -bi, Donga.com misty82@donga

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.