She Stayed Three Days at Her Friend’s Mother’s Funeral: The People Who Talk About Bae Suzy

Part 6 of 6 in Korea's First Love Who Failed Her Audition: Bae Suzy

Featured photo: Suzy at an Anua photo call in Seoul, September 18, 2026. Photo: K-POPIT 케이팝잇 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped).

Previously: a Netflix global No. 1, Wonderland, and three projects waiting for release.

Spring 2026: Jo Hyun-ah’s three days

On the talk show Jjanhanhyeong with Shin Dong-yup, released Apr. 20, 2026, Jo Hyun-ah of Urban Zakapa talked about the days after her mother died. “Suzy came with me to the crematorium and followed us all the way to the burial site. She even said, ‘Mother, I’ll take good care of my unnie.’ I was so grateful.” Then she laughed and added, “For three days Suzy sat in one spot and ate about four bags of dried squid” (Hankook Ilbo, Apr. 21, 2026). A month earlier, on MBC’s Radio Star, Jo had already given Suzy a name: my guardian angel (iMBC). Reading this, my nose stung before I knew it. Right down to the four bags of squid: how could anyone not love this Suzy?

2.29 million views as of Oct. 25, 2026.

170,000 views as of Oct. 25, 2026.

You can see the friendship on camera too. The Suzy episode of Jo’s web show Jo Hyun-ah’s Thursday Night has passed 5.3 million views.

5.32 million views as of Oct. 25, 2026.

Also read: Bae Suzy, Korea's Eternal First Love

Fall 2024: “The top among actresses”

On the YouTube channel VIVO TV in October 2024, director Jang Hang-jun passed on what he hears about Suzy in the industry. “Her reputation in the business is really good. The top among actresses!” He went on: “With Suzy it’s like having one more staff member on set. That’s not easy for a lead actress.” Comedian Song Eun-i, sitting beside him, added her own story. “I played tennis with Suzy. The next time I went to that court, there were four air coolers that hadn’t been there before” (Xportsnews, Oct. 10, 2024).

1.05 million views as of Oct. 25, 2026.

Fall 2025: What Hyeri and Lee Joo-young said

In October 2025, Suzy and actress Lee Joo-young appeared together on Hyeri’s YouTube show Hyeri’s Club. Lee said, “Her personality gets hidden way too much behind her looks.” Hyeri said, “She sings well too, but her face works against her.” When Hyeri asked, “You always just live as yourself. How does that feel?” Suzy answered, “Honestly, it’s not bad. I like it” (OSEN, Oct. 3, 2025).

Watch on YouTube: Hyeri (official), “Hyeri’s Club ep62 Suzy, Lee Joo-young” (1.89 million views as of Oct. 25, 2026)

Lending her own trailer to child actor Kim Yoon-seul on a desert set (Part 5) is the same kind of story.

Fifteen years of giving

Suzy’s donations go on record starting the year after her debut. In 2011 she put signed shoes up for a charity auction to help a single mothers’ organization. In 2014 it came out that she had been sending 10 million won (about $9,000) every year to children with cancer and leukemia. The same year she gave 50 million won (about $48,000) to support victims of the Sewol ferry disaster and pledged to donate her organs and tissue (Wikipedia).

In 2015 she became the 791st member of the Honor Society, the major-donor circle of the Community Chest of Korea, and in 2019 she represented the society at an event at the Blue House, then the presidential office. By 2022 her gifts through the Life Sharing Practice Headquarters to patients with rare diseases and childhood cancer had reached 500 million won (about $390,000), and by 2025 her donations to the disaster relief group Hope Bridge had reached 600 million won (about $420,000) (Wikipedia). During the March 2025 wildfires in southeastern Korea, she gave 100 million won (about $70,000) (JTBC, Mar. 26, 2025).

In November 2024, a mother left a comment on Suzy’s social media. “Thanks to your help with our baby’s hospital bills, our baby is getting good treatment. Thank you so much.” Then she added one more line. “Our firstborn’s name is Bae Suzy, too.” Suzy’s agency confirmed the donation and said only that “it isn’t a special case; she has been donating steadily” (Xportsnews, Nov. 12, 2024).

The middle schooler who was cut in the Superstar K preliminaries paid, fifteen years later, the hospital bills of a baby named Bae Suzy. I don’t regret a single moment of being her fan. I’ll be cheering her on through the next fifteen years, too.

Where to watch Suzy: all in one place (checked Oct. 25, 2026, via JustWatch) – Netflix (US & Korea): Genie, Make a Wish, Doona!, Start-Up / US only: Vagabond / Korea only: Architecture 101, Ashfall, The Sound of a Flower – Rakuten Viki (US): Dream High, Gu Family Book, Uncontrollably Fond, While You Were Sleeping, Architecture 101 – Coupang Play (Korea): Anna – Disney+: Portraits of Delusion (coming 2026)

Sources

• Hankook Ilbo, Apr. 21, 2026; iMBC, Radio Star
• Xportsnews, Oct. 10, 2024; OSEN, Oct. 3, 2025
• Xportsnews, Nov. 12, 2024; JTBC, Mar. 26, 2025
• Wikipedia, “Bae Suzy,” Philanthropy
• Dollar figures use approximate exchange rates for each year: 2014 ≈ 1,050 won, 2022 ≈ 1,290 won, 2025 ≈ 1,430 won per dollar.