Seulong and Narsha talk about being poor in the past

2AM’s Seulong and Brown Eyed Girls’ Narsha talked about their lifestyles back in the IMF period onStrong Heart. During the late 90’s in Korea, the country’s economy was at its worst, and Korean money was worth a lot less.

Seulong said, “Before I became a singer, I wanted to attend Shil Yong Music Academy. But during that time, my mom was raising my three member family with 250000 WON ($212 USD) per month.”

He continued, “After begging my mom, I attended the academy for six months. But my mom had to live off of 50000 WON ($42 USD) because the academy’s cost was 200000 WON ($169 USD). She had to do labor by closing cube boxes.”

Narsha also talked about living during that time period. She said, “My mom still lives in a rented basement. I used to be so embarrassed so I would wear a mask when I had to leave my house so people didn’t recognize me. Since people started to recognize me, I told my mom that we should move.”

She continued, “We went to buy a house recently. But now my mom keeps asking for more things. I want to work harder and buy her a building.”