Kim Seon-geun, a broadcaster and former KBS announcer. [YouTube channel 'Jjanhan Hyung Shin Dong-yeop']
Kim Seon-geun, a broadcaster and former KBS announcer. [YouTube channel 'Jjanhan Hyung Shin Dong-yeop']

Kim Seon-geun, 42, a broadcaster and former KBS announcer, has opened up about the failed investments that left him in financial distress and ultimately pushed him to leave the network and go freelance. He confessed that he had dreamed of earning a higher salary as a freelancer, but his income turned negative after he quit — and that he had badly overestimated himself.

Kim appeared Monday on the YouTube channel "Jjanhan Hyung Shin Dong-yeop" alongside fellow broadcasters Kim Byeong-chan, Im Seong-min and Kim Hyeon-uk, where the group discussed their lives and struggles in the industry.

Host Shin Dong-yeop opened the conversation by recalling Kim's move to freelance in 2022, saying he had wondered why Kim would leave. "The broadcasting market wasn't easy, so I assumed his family must have been well-off," Shin said.

Kim responded candidly. "I overestimated myself," he said. "I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but I made a mess of things and went broke."

He reflected on a career that had, until then, been largely free of failure — graduating from a prestigious university, pursuing theater, joining KBS and going on to host the entertainment news program "Yeonye-ga Jungye" and work as a radio DJ. "I was really arrogant back then," he said. "I even thought, 'Why couldn't I be the next Jeon Hyeon-mu?'"

Kim said his job as an announcer made it easy to secure loans, which he used for various investments — all of which ultimately failed. When financial pressures piled up at once, including winning an apartment subscription lottery for a newly built unit in Paju, he quit chasing the dream of a lucrative freelance career.

Reality, he said, turned out to be very different.

"I had promises of appearances lined up before I resigned, but in practice not a single one came through," Kim said. "My income actually went into the negative."

To make ends meet, he took on part-time work — delivering laundry, working as a designated driver and loading and unloading parcels.

"I had to eat, and there was no broadcasting work, so I looked for whatever I could find," he said. He also participated in a bioequivalence study — a clinical trial testing a new drug — spending two nights and three days at a facility having blood drawn and taking medication.

Kim was born in 1984 and joined KBS in 2014, going on to host a range of programs including "Yeonye-ga Jungye," "Good Morning Korea Live" and "Immortal Songs." In 2019 he served as DJ on KBS Happy FM's "Lucky Seven," and later took over from Do Gyeong-wan as MC of the trot music variety show "I Love Songs," co-hosting alongside Jang Yun-jeong.

In September 2022, after nine years at KBS, he left the network and went freelance.

“김승규때문에 졌다” 출산 영상에도 ‘악플’…아내 김진경, 결국

“김승규때문에 졌다” 출산 영상에도 ‘악플’…아내 김진경, 결국

[헤럴드경제=장연주 기자] 모델 겸 배우 김진경이 남편인 축구 국가대표 골키퍼 김승규에 대한 악플이 쇄도하자 결국 SNS 댓글창을 닫았다. 김진경은 지난 19일 유튜브채널
https://biz.heraldcorp.com/article/10784237

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