'A gift while I'm alive': Actor Park Won-sook on why she gave her granddaughter an officetel and a car

Actor Park Won-sook has opened up about the guilt she carries over her only son, who died in an accident, and revealed why she gave her granddaughter a series of generous gifts.

Park appeared as a guest on the YouTube channel "Song Seung-hwan's Wonderful Life" on Tuesday.

In the video, Park reflected on her son, who died in a traffic accident in 2003.

"I became an actor because I loved performing from a young age, and even through all the hardships I told myself this was just life and kept going," she said. "But the moment I lost my son, I didn't know if I was dreaming or awake. I realized that everything I had acted up to that point was fake."

She went on to say, "Even now I do one project a year, but I find myself wondering what the point is of pushing so hard. What does it mean to win an award for it? My passion and drive for the work just disappeared."

The deepest regret she carries, she said, is that she never gave her son enough while he was alive. "I didn't give him material things because I thought I was educating him. That breaks my heart and I regret it so much, so I've done for my granddaughter what I couldn't do for my son," she said. "Even though she earned a scholarship, I paid her tuition anyway, and I got her an officetel and a nice car."

She then smiled and said, "If you give it after you die, it's an inheritance — but if you give it while you're alive, isn't it a gift?"

Park lost her only son in a sudden traffic accident in 2003, when he was 35. He was struck by a one-ton truck on a road in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, and taken to hospital, but did not survive.

After her son's death, her daughter-in-law remarried and Park lost contact with her granddaughter for some time, before the two eventually reunited years later.