Broadcaster Wang Jong-geun lost 1 billion won in stocks.

On the 4th, Wang Jong-geun and Kim Mi-sook appeared as guests on MBN‘s ‘Sokpuli Show Dongchimi’.

Wang Jong-geun confessed on that day, “I don’t have any more money to lose. I‘ve invested about 10 times, but none of them were successful. I have about 1 billion won in total.”

He said, “The first investment was the problem. I invested 200 million won, and they said that if you process waste, you get oil. How good is that? I thought it would definitely make money, so I put in all my severance pay. The CEO was arrested. The company disappeared.”

He added, “The second investment was about fermenting waste to grow mushrooms. I invested 150 million won, but it disappeared.”

He also invested in an overseas golf business. I invested 150 million won. So they gave me the title of vice president. I cried during the inauguration ceremony. I cried for a moment, thinking, ‘Why is someone who is supposed to be broadcasting doing this?’” he confessed.

He then confessed, “I lost a total of 1 billion won, but I also made some money back. After seeing the article, a friend who lives in Pohang contacted me and said, ‘Do you have money to live off of right now? Can I send you about 10 million won?’ Isn’t that amazing?” and “Ham Ik-byung also said, ‘I don’t usually do money transactions with people I know, but I can give you tens of millions of won.’ I’ve met a lot of really good people. He added a heartwarming anecdote, saying, “I didn’t get any help from that person, but I promised to take care of him until he died if he had a hard time.”

Kim Mi-sook said, “I remember my husband sitting on the sofa, staring blankly out the window all day long.” Wang Jong-geun said, “I thought he needed investment money. My wife has the financial power, so I asked her for money. I said, ‘It’s money I earned, so why can‘t I?’ I‘m really sorry.”

Jeon Hyo-jin, Donga.com reporter jhj@donga.com