"Money Spent Raising My Son" – Shocking Claim Fuels Public Feud Between Lotte's Jung Cheol-won and Kim Ji-yeon

[The Financial News] The conflict between Lotte Giants pitcher Jung Cheol-won and influencer Kim Ji-yeon, known from the show "Love Catcher," is escalating into a series of public exposés. On top of allegations over unpaid living expenses and controversy surrounding their son's first-birthday ring, tensions with Jung's family have now also come to light.
On the 27th, according to Kim Ji-yeon's social networking service (SNS), she posted a screenshot of a community post believed to have been written by Jung Cheol-won and issued a rebuttal.
The post claimed that Kim had mocked her mother-in-law online, saying things like, "During the off-season, I'm the head of the household, but she still expects me to cook for her," and questioned her attitude with comments such as, "You're a boy's mom too, so why are you like this?"
In response, Kim Ji-yeon wrote, "I was trying to stay quiet, but this is just..." expressing her frustration. She went on to insist, "I wasn't going to go into detail about my in-laws, but he left out all the context and even added lies."
Addressing Jung Cheol-won's claims, Kim presented additional points. She mentioned not attending a first-birthday party and a wedding held near Yongin, traveling from Busan Metropolitan City during a marital dispute, and raised suspicions that Jung's family had demanded child support money from her.
Kim particularly remarked, "Given how they treated my mother, I'm starting to think I should even release footage from our home cameras to show how sincere I am and how unfair this is," hinting that she might disclose videos showing the family situation inside the house.
She also stressed, "I have more than enough KakaoTalk messages to prove the facts. The more evidence is made public, the more it works in my favor and shows what kind of person I am."
Previously, Kim Ji-yeon had alleged that Jung Cheol-won failed to provide living expenses and claimed that he melted down their son's first-birthday ring to make a 10-don gold necklace for her.
The two had a son in August 2024 and held their wedding about one year and four months later, in December last year. However, news of their breakup emerged just a month after the ceremony.


hsg@fnnews.com Han Seung-gon Reporter