In ‘Sadanggwi’, ‘the original North Korean defector star’ Jeon Cheol-woo makes a surprise appearance as Lee Soon-sil’s 57-year-old friend and talks about the times when he dominated the broadcasting and restaurant industries.

In KBS 2TV‘s ‘The Boss’s Ears Are Donkey Ears’ (directed by Ahn Sang-eun/hereafter ‘Sadanggwi’), which airs at 4:40 PM on the 13th, defector boss Lee Soon-sil surprises everyone by confessing that she and Jeon Cheol-woo, famous as the ‘original North Korean defector star’, are friends of the same age, 57 years old.

In particular, Jeon Cheol-woo is a first-generation North Korean defector and broadcaster who defected in 1989 as an exchange student in East Germany. Jeon Cheol-woo, who started a cold noodle business by saying, “Choi Yang-rak, Lee Bong-won, and Kim Mi-hwa, who I broadcasted with, told me that Cheol-woo was good at cooking, so they told me to open a cold noodle restaurant,” and revealed how popular it was, saying, “In the beginning, our monthly sales were 400 million won.”

Above all, Jeon Cheol-woo’s unique family background before his defection has been revealed, drawing great attention. Lee Soon-sil said, “Jeon Cheol-woo graduated from Kim Chaek University of Technology, which was called the Seoul National University of North Korea’s engineering school, and is from a family of Kim Il-sung’s guests (the first family),” and revealed that he was from a family of high-ranking officials with such authority that even birds could fall from their hands. As if to prove this, Jeon Cheol-woo said, “My father was close to Kim Il-sung,” and “When my father and mother got married, Kim Il-sung‘s second wife Kim Jung-sook gave him a ring as a wedding present. They were so close.”

Along with this, Lee Soon-sil arouses curiosity by revealing that the first time she learned of Jeon Cheol-woo’s existence was through a ‘leaflet. Lee Soon-sil said, “At the time, I was in the military, and the party raised and fed me, so I thought he ran away to South Korea.” She then revealed the special relationship between the two by saying, “I didn‘t know that Jeon Cheol-woo would become a comedian after defecting because he was from an upper class family in North Korea.”

On the other hand, Jeon Cheol-woo revealed that his famous cold noodle restaurant, which still has lines today, “has 1.65 million won in lunch sales,” drawing gasps of envy from the studio. The story behind Jeon Cheol-woo’s defection and success story, which surprised even his boss Lee Soon-sil, a North Korean defector, will be revealed.

Lee Seul-bi, Donga.com reporter misty82@donga.com