Webtoon author Joo Ho-min, who is raising an autistic child, made bitter comments on the drama “Extraordinary Attorney Woo”
Joo Ho-min expressed his honest feelings about watching “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” from the perspective of parents raising autistic children.
Webtoon author Joo Ho-min appeared as a guest on tvN’s “Yoo Quiz on the Block”, which aired on October 19th. MC Yoo Jae-seok asked, “I heard the time you hit the jackpot with ‘Along with the Gods’ was the hardest time in your life”.
Joo Ho-min shared, “It was around 2017-2018 when my first child was diagnosed with autism. He was about 4 years old back then and it was just when ‘Along with the Gods’ made a big hit”.
He continued, “When I’m outside at work, I heard things like ‘Ho-min ah, congratulations’. But right after returning home, I sat down with my wife and wondered ‘What should I do to live now?’. I felt very tired because of the big wave of emotions.”
Joo Ho-min said, “In fact, I used to hide my son’s autism. I didn’t think it was necessary to do so. But at some point, my wife asked, ‘Why are you only talking about our second child on broadcasts?’. At that time, I felt so embarrassed. That’s why I told the story of my first son on the radio I hosted. Since then, people around me began to understand why I often ran out whenever I got a call from home even in the middle of broadcasts.”
Regarding his first son Seon-jae, he said, “He’s very bright and he likes people. Since he’s not good at expressing himself, whenever he approaches people, they don’t respond as much as he expected. That’s why he always looks so lonely. My heart aches every time I see him and I just want to hug him.”
Joo Ho-min revealed that he also planned to make a webtoon about what he experienced when raising a disabled child.
When asked, “I heard you were disappointed with some parts of the drama ‘Extraordinary Attorney Woo’”, Joo Ho-min replied, “I really enjoyed watching it. I think it’s a good drama that makes lots of people understand more about autism spectrum disorder”. He sadly said, “However, there are only angels around Woo Young-woo. They’re so kind. It was a bit like a fantasy”.
In addition, Joo Ho-min said, “I think it’s good to show the viewers a role model of being people around the disabled. If would be even better if the drama could make viewers think that they should be neighbors to the disabled in this way or that way”.
Joo Ho-min married cartoonist Han Soo-ja in 2010 and has two sons.
Source: wikitree
