Broadcaster Jeon Min-ki revealed that he finds it uncomfortable when his mother-in-law visits to help with childcare and household chores.
The MBN variety show 'Dongchimi,' which aired on Saturday, featured a special episode titled "Global Judgment Panel: Is this how you live? Or should you stop?" In the episode, the couple Jeon Min-ki and Jung Mi-nyeo shared their concerns.
On the show, Jeon mentioned that he has an uninvited guest who comes to his home, identifying her as "my mother-in-law."
Show host Lee Hyun-i reacted by asking, "Are you calling your mother-in-law an uninvited guest?" Noh Sa-yeon and Lee Hong-ryeol expressed concern, saying, "That's a sensitive topic" and "It's precarious."
Jeon said, "Since I have a son in the fourth grade of elementary school, my mother-in-law comes over about twice a week to help with housework and look after the child."
He added, "I don't have any complaints about that It's just that while I know which days of the week my mother-in-law visits, I don't know exactly when she arrives."
He continued, "When I ask my wife, since it is her own mother, she says something like, 'Mom will come whenever she wants.' But I can't keep contacting my mother-in-law every time to ask, 'What time are you coming?'"
He added, "On the days my mother-in-law visits, even though I haven't done anything wrong, I feel a bit tense. Since I don't know when she will arrive, I can't relax. It is uncomfortable that I cannot dress casually."
Jeon's wife, Jung Mi-nyeo, explained, "It is a bit awkward for me to treat my mother like a boss and say, 'Please come by [specific time],' even though she comes to help. I am grateful that she can handle her errands freely and visit us. So, I told her not to set a specific time and to come whenever it is convenient for her."
She added, "My husband wants to rest at home, so he probably feels uncomfortable when Mom suddenly shows up. However, I felt sorry to tell my mother to come at a specific time."
Jeon said, "My own mother doesn't even know our house password," and criticized himself by saying, "I am an unfilial son."
He mentioned that his mother-in-law enters the house unexpectedly after entering the password, confessing, "As a grown man, I don't know what I might be doing at any given moment." He continued, "If I knew what time she was coming, I would shower or make plans before her arrival. But since I don't know when she is coming, I am startled when I hear the sound of the password being entered."
He also complained, "Even though she helps, doesn't she sometimes leave the house too messy? When I am alone, I order delivery food and drink a beer, but if she suddenly comes over, it is awkward." He then added with a laugh, "I have to finish drinking before she arrives, so my daytime drinking has increased enormously."
MC Lee Hyun-i asked, "Isn't your mother-in-law coming to help rather than just visiting? What if she says, 'Jeon finds it uncomfortable, so I won't go. You take care of the child yourselves'?"
In response, Jeon sighed and said, "That would be quite difficult."
Hearing this, Lee Hyun-i expressed disbelief, saying, "What is that? Are you only taking what is good for you?" MC Kim Yong-man reacted by asking, "Then what are you supposed to do? Should your mother-in-law report to her son-in-law when she plans to visit before coming over?"
In response, Jeon said, "These days, even buses arrive on time," and pleaded, "I would like a bus arrival display board at home. If my mother-in-law presses a button when she leaves the house, it would be nice if it displayed 'Departed.'" He then asked rhetorically, "Is wanting to know that such a big mistake?"
Hearing this, Robin, a French-born broadcaster, empathized with Jeon Min-ki's feelings, mentioning that he usually walks around without clothes after showering. He then pointed out to Jung Mi-nyeo, "It seems you did not play your mediating role well."
Lee Gwang-min, a psychiatrist, also stated his opinion, noting that on weekdays the mother-in-law looks after the child, and said, "I would actually feel more burdened if my mother-in-law gave me advance notice."
He said, "When my mother-in-law visits, I act like a ghost, present yet absent, whether she is coming or going. I do not clean the house before her visit either. If I worry about it, I think my mother-in-law will worry even more."
He continued, sharing a different perspective from Jeon Min-ki, "I asked, and my mother-in-law says, 'Should I prepare fruit or meals? Will I be in the way?' She actually watches my reactions to see if she is bothering me."
Subsequently, Choi Hong-rim criticized Jeon Min-ki by saying, "Pay for a housekeeper." He added, "Mr. Jeon Min-ki is really a bad person. I usually take the husband's side, but this is a lack of respect for elders. Finding it uncomfortable when an elder visits, yet expecting them to clean and being happy about that? That is not right."
Jeon Min-ki is a broadcaster who was formerly an announcer. He married Jung Mi-nyeo, a broadcaster who was five years his junior and previously a weather caster with a background as a show host, in 2015. The following year, they welcomed their son, Yoo-geun.
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