Hong Ga-hye, a woman with a histrionic personal disorder

Hong Ga-hye, a woman who gave an interview based on false information on the Sewol ferry accident and claimed that she was a private rescue driver, has been arrested by police on a charge of the publication of defamatory statement. She appeared on MBN, a general programming station, on the third day of the incident on April 18 and said, “I heard the survivors’ signals in the ship,” and “The coast guard is blocking private divers.” Her interview hurt the victims’ families, brought confusion to the rescue efforts, and allegedly defamed the honor of the coast guard.

As police began to close in around her, she claimed, “I’ve never said I was a private driver. The media made up the story.” As she was presented with the conversation with the television writer, she said, “I don’t recall.” It later turned out that she contacted the writer first, sending the writer her name and picture on a piece of paper where private divers write down before rescue diving. Whenever she opens her mouth, she tells a lie.

Hong once argued that she was a cousin of Hwayoung, a former member of girl group T-ara who was ostracized by other members, and uploaded many posts criticizing T-ara on social networking sites. Hong wrote that she was dating several famous baseball players, but it was not true. When the earthquake hit Japan in 2011, she interviewed with MBC in Japan, saying, “I live in Tokyo. How can I live alone, leaving my darling in Japan?” Recently, she brandished a golf club after quarreling with her neighbor due to floor noise. Internet users gave her a nickname an “onion girl” because you will never know her even after peeling her like an onion and “Hong Gil-dong’s daughter” as she darts in and out of places.

Her eccentricity peaked at the police station. She told stories what she learned from social networking sites or what she heard from others, and stole other people’s lives. This is a typical symptom of a delusional disorder or a histrionic personal disorder to be more specific. When journalists are around her, she shed tears. But when journalists are gone, she becomes normal and eats well, according to police. She seems to think that her life is acting and a line in a play. She should be rather sent to a hospital than a prison given the severity of the disorder.

Editorial Writer Chung Sung-hee (shchung@donga.com)