Channel A ‘Parenting These Days - My Golden Child’ screenshot

After losing his mother in a drunk driving crash and being unable to overcome his grief, the ‘reclusive Golden Child’ cut himself off from the world. He has now stepped back into the world with confidence after three years.

The Channel A program ‘Parenting These Days - My Golden Child’ that aired on the 12th was presented as a year-end special, sharing an update on the ‘reclusive Golden Child’, whose story had brought viewers to tears when it aired in 2023.

At the time, when he was in his second year of middle school, he lost his mother in a drunk driving crash and did not leave his room for nine months, living amid piles of trash, which shocked viewers. The image of a son who had locked himself in a lightless room, and a father who, unable to even see him, could only pace in distress, was an all-time case that even made Dr. Oh Eun-young sob.

Channel A ‘Parenting These Days - My Golden Child’

His case back in eighth grade was not simple adolescent defiance. The loss of his beloved mother pushed him into a pitch-black room, and his father could do nothing but weep outside his bedroom door. It was a deep wound for which even a solution seemed difficult.

Three years later, when we met him again, he was changed beyond recognition. Having grown into a tall 18-year-old, he was no longer in a dark corner of a room but standing in the middle of the world. In the meantime, he passed the high school equivalency exam, and he is said to have recently taken the 2026 academic year College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT).

Welcoming the production team with a bright smile, he said, “Time turned out to be a remedy. Now I feel like I can do anything,” revealing his strengthened inner self. He continued, “I want to go to college, spend time with friends, and enjoy an ordinary campus life,” conveying a modest yet earnest wish that brought a lump to the throats of the watching panelists.

Netizens are pouring out words of support such as “Time is flowing again for the Golden Child,” “This brings tears, we support you,” and “Thank you for holding on.”