After the group's hiatus, this male idol revealed that he worked at a construction site and warehouse to make ends meet. He also opened up on being shamed by netizens for doing such jobs.
ZE:A Taeheon Reveals Doing Manual Labors To Support His Living
The recent status of Taeheon, the main rapper of ZE:A, has been revealed. In a recent YouTube broadcast, the idol opened up about how he is financially struggling after leaving the K-pop limelight.
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As a quick background, Taeheon debuted as a member of the second-gen boy group ZE:A in 2010. The group made waves with hits, "Mazeltov," "Breathe," "The Ghost of Wind," and more.
Unfortunately, the group started its indefinite hiatus in 2015, and Taeheon eventually left the company Star Empire in 2017 after serving in the military.
Since then, Taeheon suffered from financial struggles, which led him to do odd jobs and manual labor.
"After discharge from the military, I worked part-time at a bar as I suffered from financial difficulties. I gained more than 100kg. There was nothing I could do. I was so ashamed of myself."
He continued by narrating his current living status.
"I'm in Incheon and I'm living in a one-room (studio) apartment. It has a deposit of 100k and a monthly rent of 330,000 won (about $240)"
Regarding his family, Taeheon opened up:
"Actually, both of my parents passed away early. My father passed away when I was eight years old, and my mother passed away just before going to high school, so I continued my semi-underground life."
After being an orphan, Taeheon would debut as an idol but after not making that much, he would work numerous part-time jobs after facing financial hardships due to his military enlistment and group's hiatus.
"I also worked part-time at a construction site two years ago.
The boiler was cut off, I had skin diseases and electricity bills were not paid. I bought butane gas, boiled water, took a shower, and took a bath. I only had a balance of 0 won and 1,200 to 1,300 won in cash ($0.95 to $1.03), so I bought ramen and shared it in half to eat for the whole day."
ZE:A Taeheon Confesses Being Shamed for Working at Warehouse + His Response
In the same broadcast, Taeheon shared his true feelings about malicious comments he got from Korean netizens for doing such jobs.
"I am currently working at the Coupang (Korean version of Amazon) Logistics Center. I go to work at 1:30 a.m. and finish at 9 a.m. It's hard work. But I earn about 640,000 won ($504) by doing it six days a week.
I saw a post on an online community saying, 'Isn't it crazy for Taeheon to have a part-time job at a warehouse?' I thought to myself, 'I had to make a living somehow, but why am I being called crazy for working?'
I can't fathom how some people would think that I'm ruining ZE:A's image because what is so shameful about working at a logistic center?"
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