What is it like to marry into a chaebol family? Hyundai’s daughter-in-law reveals 7 shocking rules she must obey
The stories of women who marry rich in K-dramas are actually not exaggerated.
Marrying into wealthy and powerful chaebol families in Korea is often seen as the “dream”. However, having a life with no worries about money also comes with massive pressure. In Korean dramas, women who step into chaebol families are required to follow lots of strict rules, is it the same in real life?
In 2018, in a show of Chosun TV, former TV news anchorwoman Noh Hyun Jung, who is the daughter-in-law of Hyundai revealed some shocking facts about her life as a part of a chaebol family, drawing much attention from the public.
Before getting married to Chung Dae Sun, CEO of Hyundai BS&C and grandson of Hyundai Group’s founder, Noh Hyun Jung was a familiar face to the Korean general audience because she had many years working as an anchorwoman for KBS TV. She is beautiful, smart, and had a career of her own, but once she entered a chaebol family, she had to step down from her position and kept a low profile.
The family of Noh Hyun Jung herself is also known to be well-off because she and her husband knew each other when her family company was a supplier for Hyundai Group. She was also one of the most qualified anchorwomen in Korea at the time with a degree in accounting from the prestigious University of California. After only 3 years working at the public network KBS, she made a good impression on the Korean audience with her appearance on the daily news. However, when being put next to her husband who comes from the second largest chaebol family in Korea, she is still called a Cinderella.
In 2006, the wedding of Noh Hyun Jung and Chung Dae Sun was called a fairytale wedding by the Korean media. After getting married, Noh Hyun Jung completely disappeared from the media, making netizens curious about her life.
After 12 years of being Hyundai’s daughter-in-law, Noh Hyun Jung once revealed the golden rules that she must follow in her daily family life as follows:
1. Always be humble
2. Act with caution
3. Don’t act in a manner that attracts attention
4. Vegetables must be bought from the market
5. Maintain a strict record of every purchase, down to every head of cabbage
6. Attendance at every funeral and death anniversaries is compulsory
7. Learn your grandparents’ names by heart
In addition, the daughter-in-law of Hyundai also has a different life routine from most commoners. She has to eat breakfast at around 4:30 a.m. every day and if she sleeps late, it shouldn’t be past 5 a.m.
The above rules have surprised the Korean public, and most have commented that they are too strict and unreasonable. Through the situation of Noh Hyun Jung, it can be seen that marrying into chaebol families is not as ideal and dreamy as it seems, and these women also have to trade-off a lot. However, the marriage of Noh Hyun Jung and Chung Dae Sun is still happy.
