SOUTH KOREA — A pair of parents in South Korea has come under fire after several clips revealing their apparent neglect and harsh treatment of their four-year-old son gained much attention online.

The video snippets, which were taken from a Korean variety show on parenting titled My Golden Kids, have sparked outcry from viewers around the world with many expressing empathy for the young boy.

Four-year-old Song Eo Jun first touched the hearts of viewers on Nov 21 after a clip of his interview from the show’s 169th episode became widely shared.

My Golden Kids is a reality television programme where parents facing issues with their children go on the show to receive feedback and advice from parenting experts.

Eo Jun’s parents, Mr Song Ji Hoon and Ms Yoon Ji Hyeon, as well as his grandmother, appeared on the programme to seek professional help because Eo Jun had begun to throw tantrums and hit or bite them after his six-month-old sister was born.

In his solo interview that has gone viral, Eo Jun was asked about his relationship with his parents. When asked who he liked to play with the most, he hesitated before confessing: “I don't know.”

He added that he was always bored at home because nobody played with him.

Eo Jun went on to reveal that his father was “scary” when he was angry, and expressed his wish for his father to call on him more gently.

As for what he thought of his mother, the boy replied: “I don’t think she likes me.”

He then asked for a moment as he tried to hold back tears. 

He later said that his mother did not listen to him, before wishing that she would play with him more.

Tubular, a social video insights platform, showed that Eo Jun’s story trended highly across several countries, garnering a total of 687.1 million views and 97.7 million engagements as of Monday (Nov 27) afternoon.

At least 1,700 videos on his family have been shared across various social media platforms.

Videos of his heartrending interview brought many viewers to tears, with some accusing Eo Jun’s parents of emotional neglect.

One TikTok user wrote: “He is so mature and thoughtful when he told the show to stop for a moment to hold back his tears. I cried a lot at that scene.”

Another person said: “No child deserves to be treated like this.”

Numerous people offered to play with him, with others even offering to adopt him.

A user tweeted on X (formerly Twitter): “I love how we collectively agreed that we’ll do anything for him! All he wants is to feel and be loved by the people who mean the most to him!”

Several online users condemned Eo Jun’s “terrible” parents for seemingly not providing enough care and attention for their son.

A YouTube user commented: “When you don’t have time to take care of your kids, why even have them. Just horrible.”

An X user said: “How can some parents be clueless how grateful they should be for having their kids in their life.”

Several other clips from the episode were later shared after Eo Jun’s initial interview went viral.

In one of the videos, Eo Jun’s mother is seen accompanying her son as he works on a colouring book. Ms Yoon then suddenly asks her son which he prefers: Korean language, mathematics or drawing.

When her son enthusiastically answers “drawing”, Ms Yoon coldly replies: “Yeah. The way I see it, you don’t have a knack for studying.” This exchange elicited expressions of shock from the panellists on the show.

Ms Yoon continues to ask if Eo Jun wants to attend an arts university in future, claiming that men in arts universities have to be good-looking. Before Eo Jun can answer, Ms Yoon quickly concludes: “You can’t make it”.

In a separate video, Ms Yoon takes Eo Jun and his sister to an indoor playground. Despite Ms Yoon's constant coaxing for Eo Jun to make friends and play with the other children, the boy claims that he is “scared” and continues to cling to his mother.

When Eo Jun is finally distracted by a wall activity, his mother takes the opportunity to sneak away to change her daughter’s diaper and feed her. However, Eo Jun soon discovers that his mother is nowhere to be seen and begins to cry, thinking that she has abandoned him.

The newly surfaced videos have riled up social media users even further, with many expressing anger and frustration over Ms Yoon’s parenting methods.

One top comment on TikTok read: “The lady side-eyeing the mother is all of us”. This was in reference to Dr Oh Eun Young, a child psychiatrist and panellist on the show who was captured glancing at Ms Yoon in the video.

Although most comments were critical towards Ms Yoon, some online users came to the mother’s defence.

A TikTok user argued: “To be honest, she's not totally a bad mum. Just that life is taking a toll on her and finances are probably tight, so it's tough all around.”

A handful of people pointed out that the majority of the clips posted online only showed earlier parts of the episode, which portrayed the parents in a bad light. 

They pointed out that the parents had taken steps to improve their ways by incorporating the advice given, and later segments of the episode showed Mr Song and Ms Yoon playing with Eo Jun and giving him more attention.

Towards the end of the episode, Ms Yoon promises Eo Jun that she will play with him even when she comes home from work tired.

“I’m sorry for making you think that I dislike you, even though I don’t. From now on, I’ll love you and play with you more.”

While some expressed positivity towards the mother's attempts to change, there were also concerns as to whether the family was receiving proper and long-term support.