Lee Kyung-kyu expressed his anger by revealing the story of how he got Jo Se-ho and Nam Chang-hee on ‘You Quiz’, which he had appeared on to recruit Yoo Jae-suk on ‘Jodongari’.

On the 21st, Lee Kyung-kyu appeared as a guest on the ‘Jodongari’ channel and set the studio on fire with his signature straightforward speaking style and humor.

That day, Lee Kyung-kyu started off by asking, “Jae-suk was on here (‘Jodongari’), right? When Ji Seok-jin answered, “He was,”, he said, “I really made a mistake. I‘ve never not been on a program that Yoo Jae-suk does. He expressed his pride, saying, “I helped them get established on ‘You Quiz’, ‘What Do You Do When You Play?’, and even in the early days of ‘Infinite Challenge’.”

He then raised his voice, saying, “Is there any program that Yoo Jae-suk doesn’t do?” When Kim Yong-man asked, “What do you want to say, hyung?” Lee Kyung-kyu replied, “Shouldn‘t you be on my YouTube channel? Why would I go on ‘You Quiz’? I went to get Jae-suk (to recruit him for my channel), but Jo Se-ho and Nam Chang-hee showed up.”

When Ji Suk-jin asked, “How were the views?” Lee Kyung-kyu sighed and said, “It was a mess. (During the recording of ‘You Quiz’, Jo Se-ho suddenly came out and said he would appear (on my channel). Why is Jo Se-ho crawling out? I went as Yoo Jae-suk to get him!”, showing an excited(?) reaction and making the studio burst into laughter.

Lee Kyung-kyu then candidly revealed his side business challenges, from cricket chicken to Kokkomyeon, and the behind-the-scenes stories behind them. He said, “I was watching MBC News, and they said that the eggs laid by chickens fed crickets were plump and good. That’s how I got the idea of ‘Well-being Chicken’, so I went to a farm and tried some chicken stew, and it was so delicious. That‘s why I started (the chicken business)”,” recalling his passion at the time.



However, the business did not go as planned. Kim Yong-man said, “My brother named the chicken ’Cricket Chicken‘ so I took it to my wife to try, but she wouldn’t eat it. It reminds me of crickets, so it felt strange,” and relayed his story of failure. He continued, “But my brother went to Namdaemun and learned how to make broth with the chicken, and ‘Kkokkomyeon’ came out in the process.” When Kim Soo-yong asked, “Do you still receive royalties (for ‘Kkokkomyeon’)?” Lee Kyung-kyu replied, “I do sometimes.”

While listening to Lee Kyung-kyu‘s continued business experiences, Ji Seok-jin asked, “Why do you keep doing business, hyung? You must have a lot of money.” Lee Kyung-kyu honestly confessed, “It was because of anxiety.” He said, “I was having a cup of coffee the other day, and (suddenly) life felt so lonely. Why did I make movies? Why did I do so many useless side jobs? That’s what I thought,” and confessed his serious feelings, saying, “It was anxiety.”

He added his own philosophy, saying, “But if an artist doesn‘t have anxiety, then they’re not artists.” He then pointed to Kim Soo-yong and made a joking but direct remark, saying, “People who don‘t have anxiety are not artists,” to which Kim Soo-yong responded with his signature deadpan gag, saying, “How anxious I am. I always feel like I’m on the edge of a cliff,” causing an explosion of laughter.



Lee Kyung-kyu also talked about the autobiography he‘s currently writing. He said, “The book will be coming out in February next year. (The book) contains things I felt while working in the entertainment industry and stories of people I met,” he said. “It’s not just a simple episode from the entertainment industry, but it contains my perspective on one incident. It deals with various topics such as what marriage is and social phenomena.” When Kim Yong-man asked, “What’s the title of the book?” Lee Kyung-kyu caught everyone’s attention by answering, “I haven’t decided yet, but the first thing I’m going to say is, ‘If You Get Caught, You’ll Die.’”

Later, when Kim Yong-man mentioned the possibility that the book story would be cut from the broadcast, Lee Kyung-kyu jokingly warned, “Do you think this is a lawsuit? Then I’ll really file a lawsuit,” causing laughter. Then, he added an affectionate order, “Put it in the front once, and put it in the back twice!” causing an explosion of laughter.

Meanwhile, the YouTube channel ‘Jodongari’, led by Ji Seok-jin, Kim Yong-man, and Kim Su-yong, is receiving love from viewers by providing laughter through episodes with various guests each time, and sometimes drawing empathy with honest stories.

Choi Yoon-na, Donga.com reporter yyynnn@donga.com