Choi Jung-won Tears Up Over Water Birth Video and Her Mother's Two Hours Beside Her
Choi Jung-won recalled how her mother stayed beside her during South Korea's first televised water birth. She also shared the final promise that helped her continue performing after her mother's death.
Musical actress Choi Jung-won grew emotional as she looked back on the love of her mother, who stayed by her side during the water birth of her daughter and quietly watched over her through the pain of labor.
Choi appeared on the July 7 morning broadcast of KBS 1TV's program Achim Madang - Somunnan Nim-gwa Hamkke alongside ballerino Im Seon-woo, child actor Kim Woo-jin, and Park Ji-hu. During the broadcast, she revisited the memory of giving birth to her daughter through what was described as South Korea's first water birth about 30 years ago.
The Mother Who Stayed at the Water Birth
Choi's water birth was shown to the public in 1999 through the SBS documentary Miracle of Life. Recalling that moment, Choi said she was able to endure the pain of labor because her mother remained beside her throughout the delivery.
The filming by the broadcaster meant that Choi's own mother was able to watch the birth unfold in person. Choi said, "It was the day I became a mother, and at that moment, my mother was there with me as well." She continued, "It is not easy for a mother to watch her daughter give birth. But because the broadcast filming was taking place and my mother agreed to be there, she stayed beside me and watched everything, from the pain of labor to the moment I delivered my child."
Even as Choi gave birth in the water and breastfed her baby, her mother kept looking not at her newborn granddaughter but at her daughter. Choi said, "I did not know it at the time, but from the moment I gave birth in the water until the moment I was feeding the baby, my mother was not looking at her granddaughter. She kept stroking me. Back then I was only looking at my daughter, so it was the first time I saw that my mother had spent two hours looking only at me and stroking me."
Yoo Ha Cried After Seeing Her Maternal Grandmother's Heart
When Choi's daughter Yoo Ha was in her second year of middle school and had her first period, Choi explained to her that she had become a woman. During that conversation, they ended up watching the old water birth footage together. Seeing her maternal grandmother in the video spend two hours looking at and stroking her daughter rather than her granddaughter, Yoo Ha began to cry.
Choi said, "When my daughter grew older and saw that scene, she told me, 'I am crying because of Grandma.'" Choi added, "After raising a daughter myself, I understand that feeling. If my daughter later gives birth to a child, I think I will worry more about my daughter."
The Final Request to Keep Performing
Choi remembered her late mother as a "goddess of positivity." She said the image of her mother expressing affection through touch, from doing her hair and kissing her to giving her acupressure massages since elementary school, remains vivid even now. To Choi, her mother was someone who always welcomed her daughter with a smiling face.
During her lifetime, Choi's mother also made a request to her daughter, who continued to work as a performer. She told Choi, "Even if there is a performance on the day I leave this world, you must perform." Choi also shared her mother's complete support for her dream, recalling her words: "Do not worry. I am so happy to have raised the daughter who is South Korea's best musical actress."
That request became a source of strength at the actual moment of farewell. Two years ago, Choi suddenly lost her mother while she had two performances ahead of her. Until the previous day, Choi had helped change her mother's mobile phone and had dinner with her, but her mother passed away unexpectedly.
After holding the funeral, Choi still had to appear in the musical Hadestown. She confessed, "I could not sleep until morning and cried so much that I wondered whether my voice would come out, but I acted." She added, "My body felt so light, as if it could fly away. I performed with the feeling that my mother was in the audience, and I finished the performance safely. It was truly an unforgettable stage in my life."
Yoo Ha, the daughter born through the water birth, is now active as a singer-songwriter. In the past, during the COVID-19 period, mother and daughter drew attention when they appeared together on KBS 2TV's Immortal Songs, where Yoo Ha took the stage with Choi. Choi recalled, "We were singing for 20 announcers, and I was happy."
When it was said that her daughter had inherited both her looks and her talent, Choi answered cheerfully, "She is a little better than I am." At the end of the broadcast, Choi closed the stage by passionately singing Jeongmallo, a favorite song of her mother during her lifetime.
