In a rare and deeply personal revelation, Oscar-winning actor Youn Yuh-jung has opened up about her family life—sharing that her eldest son is gay and reflecting on how South Korean society might respond.
“My eldest son is gay. I don’t know how people in South Korea will take this. They might throw a book at me,” Youn, 78, said in a recent interview tied to the North American release of The Wedding Banquet, which opened Apr. 18. The film, she added, resonates closely with her own story.
In conversations with People magazine and the South China Morning Post, Youn said, “My eldest son came out in 2000, and when gay marriage was legalized in New York in June 2011, we held a wedding for him.”
She continued, “We kept it a secret from people in S. Korea, so the whole family flew to New York for the ceremony. Now, I like my son-in-law even more than my son.”
Youn’s sons are Jo Eol, 50, and Jo Neul, 43. Both were mentioned during her 2021 Oscar acceptance speech for Minari, where she became the first Korean actor to win an Academy Award.
Holding up the trophy for Best Supporting Actress, she said, “Thank you to my two sons who made me go out and work. Jo Eol and Jo Neul, this is the result of Mom working hard.” Jo Eol, the son she referred to, is the one who came out.
Youn’s story weaves seamlessly into the fabric of The Wedding Banquet, a remake of Ang Lee’s 1993 film of the same name. The story follows a gay Taiwanese man who stages a sham marriage with a woman to secure a green card. Youn plays the protagonist Min’s grandmother, while Korean actor Han Gi-chan portrays Min.
The film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January to strong reviews, was written and directed by Andrew Ahn, a 39-year-old Korean American filmmaker who is also openly gay.
After hearing Youn’s personal story during production, Ahn decided to incorporate a real-life conversation she had with her son into a key scene between Min and his grandmother. The line, “No matter what you are, you’re still my grandson,” was drawn directly from Youn’s words to her own child.
“Parents of gay children often face real difficulties in S. Korea,” Youn said. “I hope the country will open its heart and become more enlightened.”
The South China Morning Post noted that Youn’s younger son, Jo Neul, currently works as her manager. He was quoted as saying, “Even in S. Korea, people are slowly beginning to accept homosexuality.”
Public figures have become increasingly open about their sexual identities in recent years. Last month, Lara, a 20-year-old member of KATSEYE—a global girl group under HYBE—came out as gay in a post to her fan community, writing, “My sexual identity is a part of who I am.”
Actor Jodie Foster, 63, made a similar gesture at the Golden Globe Awards in January. Accepting the award for best actress in a limited TV series, she turned to her wife, Alexandra Hedison—seven years her junior—and said, “To Alex, the love of my life—I’ll always be grateful.”
