Comedian Hong Seok Cheon Reveals He “Almost Died” Before Shutting Down His Restaurants
In a recent video shared via comedian Park Myung Soo‘s YouTube channel, Face Genius Cha Eun Soo, comedian-restauranteur Hong Seok Cheon (also known as Tony Hong) talked about a major health scare that ultimately led him to shut down his multiple businesses.
Back in 2000, after coming out as gay, Hong was unable to continue appearing on television against the backlash of homophobic Korea.
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Hong opened his first Italian restaurant in Itaewon to make a living. Over the following two decades, he became Itaewon’s most successful restauranteur. At one point, Hong mentioned making ₩5.00 billion KRW (about $3.74 million USD) to ₩7.00 billion KRW (about $5.24 million USD) per year from his restaurants.
Yet, in 2020, during and after the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hong shut down all of his restaurants. When asked about this drastic decision, Hong shared that a dangerous case of sepsis led him to it.
I guess people thought I went out of business because I shut all the restaurants down, and reporters published articles claiming that I failed to survive in Itaewon. There is some truth to that, sure. But it was more so because I got sick before COVID-19.
— Hong Seok Cheon
Hong said he was in pain, but he decided to put off seeing a doctor because his restaurants kept him busy. When he did eventually end up at the hospital, his doctor revealed how tragic it could have gone.
I had sepsis. I didn’t realize it until the inflammation had gotten so bad and basically burst inside me. I was in so much pain for a week, but it was the end of the year. The restaurants were really busy, so I wasn’t thinking about taking time to go see a doctor. I tried to get through it on pain killers. The thing is, sepsis can be life-threatening.
It was on December 31st when I suddenly had chills. My manager took me to the hospital, and as soon as the doctor saw me, he immediately took me to the operating room and removed all the infection. When I woke up, the doctor said, ‘Mr. Hong, if you continue living like this, you will die.’
If I had gone in even a day late, the chances of me dying would have been 80-90%, the doctor said. I went to the hospital with a fever of 104°F (40°C).
— Hong Seok Cheon
Realizing he “can’t live like that” anymore, Hong decided to quit the restauranteur life. According to Hong, he had already begun getting rid of his restaurants when COVID-19 hit. After the pandemic, Hong bid Itaewon farewell forever.
After receiving post-op treatment for a week and thinking, ‘I can’t live like this anymore,’ I decided to sort my life out. So, I decided to quit on my own. At first, I thought I should keep at least one restaurant to my name, so I kept one in Itaewon and one in Namyangju, but then COVID-19 hit. I tried to work hard for another year, but with no business due to the pandemic, I decided to shut everything down.
— Hong Seok Cheon
While Hong’s restaurants might have closed, he remains a beloved figure in the Korean entertainment business.
Watch the full clip here.
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