Singer Kim Ran-young has shared a heartbreaking update regarding her battle with stomach cancer.
On the 4th of last month, a video titled “Something’s not right? I thought it was a stomach ulcer. Shocking! Singer Kim Ran-young’s battle with illness” was uploaded to the channel ‘Scoop World – That Person Back Then’. The footage is from an MBN ‘Scoop World’ episode that originally aired in June 2023.
In the video, Kim Ran-young revealed her gaunt appearance. Recalling the moment of her diagnosis, she said, “I felt unwell and went for a general check-up. They told me to come back quickly after the tests. When I did, the doctor said, ‘Something’s not quite right.’ I thought it was just a stomach ulcer or some inflammation, but then I heard the words, ‘It’s stomach cancer. Please go to a larger hospital.’ I just started crying right then.”
After undergoing surgery to remove 60% of her stomach, Kim Ran-young opened up about the difficult aftereffects. “At first, when I lost 500g or 1kg, I liked it because I was getting slimmer, but as the weight continued to drop, I lost all my energy,” she shared. “I’ve lost a total of 15kg now. I had no idea I could lose this much weight after surgery.”
During a visit to her mother’s columbarium, she looked at her mother’s photo and tearfully pleaded, “Mom, I keep losing weight. Please help me gain some weight,” leaving many viewers in tears. Netizens reacted with sadness, commenting, “This is so heartbreaking,” “Her voice was always playing on the highway back in the day, I didn’t know she was going through such a hard time,” “There are too many forgotten singers,” and “I sobbed while watching this.”
Born in 1963, Kim Ran-young debuted in 1973 through the Yeosu MBC New Singer Festival. During the 1980s and 90s, she enjoyed a glorious era as one of the “Four Kings of the Highway.” Over a career spanning more than 50 years, she released around 70 albums with official cumulative sales of 30 million copies, although only a few were released under her own name.
