[Sports Chosun Reporter Jo Yoon-seon] Actress Kim Mi-sook shared that she was genuinely happy running a kindergarten for 18 years.
On the YouTube channel ‘Song Seung-hwan’s Wonderful Life’, a video titled ‘Actress Kim Mi-sook Episode 7 (CF Queen, Becoming a Kindergarten Director through Family Business..!)’ was posted on the 1st.
Song Seung-hwan mentioned, “Kim Mi-sook was a queen of the CF industry in the 80s and 90s. An article noted that Kim Hye-ja, Go Doo-shim, and Kim Mi-sook were top TV commercial models back then, filming numerous advertisements. Having earned so much, didn’t you send your kids to the US and such?” To this, Kim Mi-sook admitted, “I earned a lot. I worked hard and did a lot.”
Song then asked if she reinvested the money or bought land, to which Kim replied, “I ran a kindergarten.” She elaborated, “I did buy some land and saved a lot, but my youngest sibling was a kindergarten teacher at the time. They seemed genuinely happy, editing children’s photos and creating learning materials at home, laughing to themselves. When asked if it was that fun, they would say, ‘It’s really fun. It would be wonderful if we did something like that as well, having a kindergarten would be great.’ When I discussed it with my father, he also thought it was a great idea. So, I initiated it as a family business, and I was very happy. I invested wholeheartedly in the kindergarten and worked diligently.”
Kim Mi-sook’s Sarang Kindergarten was so popular that on enrollment days, people would line up to apply. She commented, “It was quite embarrassing, but on the day of enrollment, fathers would come and queue wrapped in blankets. I was genuinely surprised. It wasn’t that my kindergarten deserved such fame, but I think they trusted it because it was run by actress Kim Mi-sook. I had such a fun time. Even now, I’m proud, and wherever I go, I’m still called ‘Director’. It seems once a director, always a director. It was indeed a delightful time,” she laughed.
Kim Mi-sook also sent a video message to the graduates of Sarang Kindergarten. She mentioned, “It’s been about 22 years since Sarang Kindergarten closed. But when I meet parents on the street, they say, ‘My daughter graduated from there.’ When I meet someone, they say, ‘Director, I’m a graduate.’ I can’t remember each one of you, but I’m immensely grateful you remember me.”
She went on to say, “I believe you’ve all become great individuals in Korea by learning well at Sarang Kindergarten. I’m so thankful you’ve grown up healthy, and as they say, ‘Once a director, always a director.’ Whenever we meet, you always call me ‘Director’, and I feel an infinite responsibility for all of you. As you have loved me and as you have become intertwined with me, I will always pray for you, and I hope you stay happy and healthy.”
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