MBN‘s ‘Let’s Go (Let‘s Go)’ heated up Saturday night with the honest and fiery conversation between CEO Kim Kwang-soo and actress Park Sun-young.

On the 8th episode of season 3 of MBN’s real variety show ‘Let‘s Go’ that aired on the 9th, CEO Kim Kwang-soo, the ‘Hand of Midas in the entertainment industry’ who produced actress Lee Mi-yeon, singer Jo Sung-mo, Davichi, and T-ara, and actress Park Sun-young, who has been acting for 35 years and loves sports, appeared.

MCs Ahn Jung-hwan and Hong Hyun-hee, who received an invitation from CEO Kim Kwang-soo, visited the company that contains his entire history, and talked about the approximately 40 years of history from his time as a road manager to becoming the CEO, as well as the numerous rumors surrounding CEO Kim Kwang-soo, such as the T-ara bullying incident, Kim Jong-guk assault allegations, and scandals with celebrities.

CEO Kim Kwang-soo, who started working as a manager in his 20s, said, “My first celebrity in charge was Insooni. After that, I started my own company, and at that time, my first singer was Kim Jong-chan,“ he said, and the MCs asked, ”How were you introduced to Kim Jong-chan?“ CEO Kim Kwang-soo replied, ”It was actress Kim Hee-ae who introduced me. A variety show PD invited me to a meal with Kim Hee-ae. At the time, Kim Hee-ae was hosting a radio show, so she knew a lot of unknown singers, and she said to me, ’I know a good unknown singer who sings really well. Why don‘t you recruit her?’“ and revealed how he began his relationship with Kim Jong-chan.

After hearing this, the MCs asked, ”Did you think it would work out as soon as you heard the song?“ But CEO Kim Kwang-soo replied, ”No. Kim Hee-ae is so pretty that I thought, ‘If the singer she recommends succeeds, can we become close?’“ He made everyone laugh with his unexpectedly honest answer, saying, ”I thought, ‘It has to be a hit no matter what.’.“

CEO Kim Kwang-soo then told an episode about when Jo Sung-mo‘s ‘To Heaven’ music video became a huge hit. CEO Kim Kwang-soo said, ”I was misunderstood due to a bad incident and couldn’t work for 3 years. The song that helped me get back on track after that was Jo Sung-mo‘s ‘To Heaven’.“ The MCs asked what prompted him to produce such an unconventional music video with a movie-like story. CEO Kim Kwang-soo said, ”I was watching an advertisement and thought, ‘Let’s draw a storyboard for the music video and film it like a movie.’. We didn‘t have much money at the time, so we received an advance payment for Lee Ui-jung’s appearance fee and even sold Kim Wan-sun‘s foreign car. Everyone was surprised when he said, “I think I sold everything that could be sold.”

In particular, CEO Kim Kwang Soo said, “At that time, the music video production cost was about 2 million won, but this music video cost about 100 million won.” When the MCs heard this, they were amazed and said, “Didn’t you have confidence?”

CEO Kim Kwang Soo also confessed for the first time the truth and feelings about various rumors, from the T-ara bullying incident to the Turbo Kim Jong Kook assault rumors and scandals with celebrities. First, CEO Kim Kwang Soo stated that the T-ara bullying incident was “an incident that made me fall into the abyss.” He said, “I found out about the discord between the T-ara members, so I terminated the contracts of sisters Hwayoung and Hyoyoung, and that led to the bullying rumors. The parents of the other members came to find me and told me to reveal the truth, but I didn‘t do it because I thought, ’What will happen to their lives then?‘”

CEO Kim Kwang-soo said, “The remaining members did nothing wrong, so we pushed ahead with the broadcast. I said, ’If you stop here, you‘ll never be able to recover. I’ll embrace everything, so you have to go,‘ and that was the biggest crisis.” He continued, “Sometimes the members come to my birthday, and they cry a lot then. I think, ’I‘m really sorry. I should’ve held back a little more.‘ ‘These kids could have done better, but did one person’s judgment ruin their lives? Why did I do that?‘” he said, making even those who were shedding tears feel sad.

CEO Kim Kwang-soo continued, “The Kim Jong-guk assault rumors were a misunderstanding that arose from the company merger, and Kim Jong-guk also apologized,” and spoke frankly about scandals with celebrities under his agency. CEO Kim Kwang-soo said, “My first love is 000. I missed her while I was filming, so I traveled three hours to see her for 1-2 minutes. I missed her so much that I once wrote a song, and that song is Kim Min-woo’s ‘It‘s Just Love’. I recorded that song and asked actress Hwang Shin-hye to give it to her,” sharing a romantic episode about his first love.

Lastly, CEO Kim Kwang-soo honestly talked about the success of his investment in the production of ‘Miss Trot’. Kim Kwang Soo, who started off by saying, “The 7 years since the T-ara incident have been really tough,” said that the PD of “Miss Trot” called him and said, “We’re short on production costs, so please invest some.” The investment they needed was 600 million won, but the deposit on the house they were living on at the time was exactly 600 million won, so they put their house up for sale and moved into a semi-basement. When they said they would invest with the deposit, people around them said, “You’re crazy.” There was chaos at the company, too.” The MCs said, “It must not have been easy because there are no precedents for trot auditions,” to which Kim Kwang Soo said, “I suggested to the PD of “Miss Trot” that I manage the trot auditions,” and added, “People say that I strategize and plan, but that’s not true. If someone chooses me, I think of it as fate and do it. ‘If this is fate, I think I’ll do whatever it takes to die,’ he replied, drawing admiration.

The second guest was actress Park Sun-young, who has been acting for 35 years and loves sports. The MCs who were talking to actress Park Sun-young, who enjoys various sports regardless of genre, from soccer to golf and basketball, suggested, ‘Meet a man while exercising.’ Upon hearing this, Park Sun-young confessed to her cold-blooded competitive world, saying, “When I play soccer, I sometimes compete against the men‘s team. But the reason it’s hard for us to become close to each other is that I want to kill him when we play,” and made everyone laugh.

The MCs then asked, “How much of an age gap is okay when you meet a man?” and Park Sun-young answered, “Age doesn‘t matter. But I originally hated younger men. But now I’m trying to meet younger men, too.” Park Sun-young continued, “I was introduced to a man before. [#142] ... So I apologized to the director and asked Kim Chan-woo, “Do you find my acting funny?” He then told an anecdote from his audition where he boldly said, “I wasn‘t good at acting, but I had guts,” drawing admiration.

Photo = MBN ‘Let’s Go’ broadcast screen capture

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