Singer Kim Yeon-ja says ex-husband controlled her earnings, left her penniless after divorce

Singer Kim Yeon-ja, marking her 52nd anniversary in the industry, has revealed that her ex-husband controlled all the income she earned over more than two decades performing in Japan and abroad — and that after their 2012 divorce, she returned to Korea without a single won to her name.

Appearing on tvN's "You Quiz on the Block" on Wednesday, Kim said she had focused entirely on singing and left all financial matters to her former husband. "I never thought about money at all — I just sang. It was really hard at first," she said. "My ex-husband was also the head of my company. He handled all the calculations for overseas charity performances and managed all the costs within Japan."

Kim said she had never once asked how much she was earning or how much he was holding. "I tried to take at least a little with me, but he said there was nothing — that I was leaving empty-handed. So I had no choice but to come back with nothing," she said.

Kim had married a Korean Japanese man 18 years her senior before divorcing in 2012. She had previously disclosed on another entertainment program that her earnings in Japan amounted to around 100 billion won ($73.6 million). Her ex-husband's side could not be reached for comment.

Reflecting on a period when she performed overseas without receiving any fee, Kim laughed it off. "The performances just turned into charity shows. That's how much I was earning in Japan," she said.

Kim left her hometown of Gwangju alone at 15, at her father's urging, boarding a slow train to Seoul. After failing an audition, she spent four years working at a record factory by day and performing at nightclubs by night, lying about her age. "When you're unknown, you sing when there are no customers," she recalled.

Kim broke into the Japanese market at 19 but failed to gain traction and returned home after three years. "I was paid 120,000 yen ($763) a month, but my international phone bill alone came to 300,000 yen a month — I got in enormous trouble and cried," she said.

Kim became a nationally recognized star in 1981 with the medley album "Norae Kkotdabal" and a string of hit songs including "Sueundeung." Host Yoo Jae-suk introduced her as "the singer at the closing ceremony of the 1988 Olympics and a top-10 artist for three consecutive years." Her 1988 song "Achimui Naraeseo," released around the Seoul Olympics, also found an audience in Japan. Eleven years after her first attempt, Kim returned to the Japanese stage and went on to perform in Brazil, Cuba and Russia over the following two decades — making her one of the first-generation hallyu artists.

On her current schedule, Kim said she keeps busy touring the country with her dance team. "When it's hectic, gas alone costs about 600,000 won a day. Traveling with the dance team, that's about what it comes to. I feel like I've conquered the whole country," she said with a laugh.