Broadcaster Yoo Jae-suk. [Herald Muse]
Broadcaster Yoo Jae-suk. [Herald Muse]

Broadcaster Yoo Jae-suk has shared that he has not smoked in 20 years.

The tvN variety show "You Quiz on the Block," which aired Wednesday, featured hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgeon Lee Jun-seo, who has spent nine years working to overcome alcohol addiction.

Introducing himself on the show, Lee said, "I'm a surgeon who quit drinking," adding, "Now I volunteer to help patients caught in the grip of alcohol."

Recalling how his addiction began, Lee said, "It started back in college. I was in a band, and the spirit of rock is resistance against authority. When you resist, you end up drinking. I think that's what led to my alcohol addiction." Looking back on his time as a fellow, he added, "There were only two of us on staff, and it was so grueling that my drinking got worse."

Listening to this, Yoo asked, "When did you decide you had to quit drinking?" Lee replied, "I developed insomnia. Drinking would put me to sleep, but I would always wake up in the early morning. That feeling was unbearable." He said he tried every method imaginable to cut back — not drinking on weekdays, drinking only on weekdays, avoiding soju, drinking only soju. This drew a laugh from Yoo, who said, "That's a lot of methods."

Lee then said, "One advanced technique is counting your drinks. You go to a work dinner thinking, 'My goal for Thursday is five drinks,' but once you start drinking, you forget. Counting drinks stresses you out, so you end up drinking more. These techniques are actually really hard to pull off."

Asked how to distinguish a casual drinker from someone dependent on alcohol, Lee said, "If you feel miserable without a drink, that means you have a dependency."

Yoo agreed, saying, "That seems to apply to more than just drinking. If you can't stand being without something, that's addiction."

Yoo then shared his own story of successfully quitting smoking.

"I used to smoke, too, but I've been smoke-free for 20 years now," Yoo said. "When I was trying to quit, I tried all sorts of things — 'Let's smoke just five a day,' 'just four a day' — but that never really worked. It's hard."

Yoo's account of how he ultimately succeeded drew particular attention. "Instead of trying to cut back gradually, I just decided, 'I'm quitting,' and quit outright," he said. "It might be a bit different with alcohol, but statistically speaking, cutting back little by little isn't easy."

Lee compared alcohol to "a harmful lover," explaining that to break free from addiction, it is best to cut the relationship off entirely. "When you feel the urge to drink, instead of only picturing the good feelings alcohol brings, it helps to think all the way through to what comes after drinking — that reduces the craving," he added.

Yoo said, "Right after I quit smoking, seeing other people smoke would make me want a cigarette. But at some point, after five or 10 years passed, I stopped thinking about it at all, and now I even hate the smell."


min3654@heraldcorp.com