Woohyun reveals he learned he had cancer in April and hid it from the fans.
The singer talked about his experience of undergoing surgery in April that required general anesthesia and said, “It was major surgery that lasted about 10 hours. I was hospitalized for a month.”
“I could have taken more time to rest before releasing this album since it hasn’t been long after the latest INFINITE activities concluded. However, I didn’t want to delay this release since it has been quite some time since I last returned as a solo artist.”, he said.
During a recent media interview at a cafe in southern Seoul’s Gangnam District, the 32-year-old revealed that he underwent surgery in April after being diagnosed with a gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST).
“GIST is an extremely rare form of cancer, which is known to affect only 10 out of 1 million people,” said Nam, who debuted in 2010 as part of INFINITE, which rose to stardom with hits like “Be Mine” (2010) and “The Chaser (2012).
“In my case, the urgency of surgery was non-negotiable, so I quickly held my fan events and performances in January and February before undergoing surgery,” he added.
The gravity of his illness exceeded his expectations, and Nam was almost unaware of the scale of the surgery until he faced its aftermath.
“I later realized that the scale was more extensive than I had thought,” he recalled. “After the surgery, I had to refrain from drinking water for almost three weeks and got a 20-centimeter scar on my stomach. I even had to attach a blood bag.”
In July, INFINITE made their highly anticipated comeback for the first time in five years.
Nam Woo Hyun has now admitted that he was still recovering from surgery while participating in INFINITE activities.
About this, the singer first expressed concerns for his fans, saying, “I hope learning about my illness won’t distress my fans.”
“I decided to push through the INFINITE comeback because I thought, if I was going to be in pain anyway, I might as well be in pain on stage.”, the singer added, expressing a strong desire for the stage.
