On May 19, 2026, viewers of tvN STORY's 'Lee Ho-sun Counseling Center' were given a rare, unfiltered look into the real-life struggles of one of South Korea's most talked-about remarried couples: Kim Seul-gi, known for her appearance on 'I Am Solo' season 10, and Yoo Hyun-cheol, who gained fame through 'Divorced Singles 3'. Their appearance on the program, which aired under the theme 'Are Your Traumas Okay?', offered a candid narrative of the complexities and emotional hurdles that come with blending families and navigating new relationships after divorce.
Kim Seul-gi and Yoo Hyun-cheol form what many would call a textbook blended family. Kim brings her 11-year-old son, while Yoo has a 12-year-old daughter. From the outside, their union might seem like a second chance at happiness, but as the couple revealed on air, the reality is far more complicated. The pair openly discussed frequent conflicts over child-rearing styles and the subtle, sometimes painful, differences that emerge when two established family cultures try to merge.
According to Newsen, one of the most persistent sources of tension has been their differing approaches to parenting. Yoo Hyun-cheol described how he would chase after his daughter, trying to feed her when she refused to eat, while Kim Seul-gi believed that at the daughter's age, she should be learning to eat on her own. "My son eats his meal and cleans up after himself, but Yoo's daughter just walks away," Kim explained, highlighting how small habits can snowball into bigger resentments.
Perhaps more telling than these practical differences are the emotional divides that remain within the family. The children, for example, still refer to their stepparents as 'aunt' and 'uncle' rather than using parental titles. Kim Seul-gi shared her heartache: "Even now, my husband's daughter calls me 'aunt,' and my son calls my husband 'uncle.' My son wants to call him 'dad,' but it just doesn't come out easily. When people say we're not close yet, it really upsets me." This lack of familial closeness, reinforced by social expectations, has left both adults feeling isolated at times.
Kim also recounted a particularly painful moment: when her husband's daughter would go to visit her biological mother, she asked Yoo Hyun-cheol to spend time with her son. Instead, Yoo would often sleep, leaving Kim feeling unsupported. "I asked my husband to pay a little more attention, but he said he felt guilty spending time together without his daughter. That really hurt," she admitted. When she tried to express her feelings, his response was, "It just takes time to become close." Kim confessed, "I'm trying my best, but I feel like my husband isn't making enough effort. That really let me down."
The sense of division sometimes took on a literal form. According to Yoo Hyun-cheol, he once described the family dynamic as being split into 'Team A' and 'Team B.' He recalled the aftermath of their remarriage being broadcast on television: "My daughter and I received negative comments, while my wife and her son got positive ones. I even said, 'You only get good comments, while we get all the criticism.'" This public scrutiny, layered on top of private struggles, only deepened the feeling of separation within the household.
Yoo Hyun-cheol also admitted that he couldn't help but prioritize his daughter, especially after coming home late from work. "I would always think my daughter must have been lonely. One day, she saw my wife's son call her 'mom' and said it made her sad." He added, "Even though I left my daughter with my wife, when I got home, I would always check on my daughter first." Such admissions reflect the challenges of balancing fairness and emotional loyalty in a blended family.
Even the most mundane moments became flashpoints for conflict. Kim Seul-gi recalled a time when she tried to share an apple evenly between the children. "If there were ten slices, my son would eat eight and my husband's daughter only two. It was just a difference in eating speed, but back then, every little thing felt significant and upsetting." These everyday incidents, trivial as they may seem, often carry the weight of deeper insecurities and unresolved tensions.
Beyond the children, the couple's own relationship has faced its share of friction. Yoo Hyun-cheol addressed his discomfort with Kim Seul-gi's close male friend. He explained, "My wife is beautiful, but she has different standards for friendships and leisure activities. For her, a male friend is just a friend, but that's hard for me. I even tried to get to know her male friend, but it was difficult for me to see them so close—pinching cheeks, holding hands. I'd never seen that kind of behavior between male and female friends before." Yoo ultimately asked Kim to stop contacting the friend and even changed his phone number to avoid further communication. However, he admitted to having looked through her phone conversations, which left Kim disappointed and feeling betrayed.
Kim Seul-gi, for her part, feels that her sacrifices in the marriage have gone unrecognized. She quit her job and moved to Yoo Hyun-cheol's area to build a new life together. "I felt like I sacrificed a lot after remarriage, but I haven't been rewarded for it. I feel less loved now than when we were dating," she confessed, her voice tinged with exhaustion and vulnerability.
All these issues—parenting differences, emotional distance, jealousy, and public scrutiny—have led the couple to the brink of what they openly described as a marital crisis. Yet, by sharing their story on national television, Kim Seul-gi and Yoo Hyun-cheol have invited viewers to witness not only their struggles but also their willingness to confront them head-on. Their appearance has sparked widespread discussion about the realities of remarriage and blended families in modern South Korea, where traditional expectations often clash with contemporary family structures.
As the episode closed, it was clear that the journey for Kim Seul-gi and Yoo Hyun-cheol is far from over. But by laying bare their challenges, they've offered a rare window into the difficulties—and, perhaps, the possibilities—of forging a new family out of the fragments of old ones.