Chef Yun Nam-no. [Newsis]
Chef Yun Nam-no. [Newsis]

Chef Yun Nam-no, who rose to fame on the Netflix cooking survival show Culinary Class Wars, has drawn attention after revealing that his income last month was limited to 800,000 won ($601).

In a video published Monday on the YouTube channel Studio Slam, Yun opened up about his finances while cooking at a campsite alongside Park Hyo-nam, one of South Korea's top 10 master chefs.

Yun, who recently opened a restaurant in Apgujeong, Seoul, told Park he had not been saving any money. When Park urged him to start a savings plan, Yun replied, "I don't have a salary. Last month I made 800,000 won."

A surprised Park advised him that a business owner should pay themselves a salary just as they pay their employees. Yun explained that his credit card bill for food had come to 5 million won. "That was for feeding my staff — I didn't eat all of it myself," he said.

Park pressed on with practical advice. "Whether it's 1 million won or 2 million won, set yourself a salary and start a savings plan," he said, stressing the importance of putting money aside. While looking after employees is admirable, he said, a business owner must also set their own pay and manage their spending.

Park added that the satisfaction of a savings plan reaching maturity "is beyond words," and warned that excessive spending was unsustainable. "Manage your finances well and live with a plan," he said. Yun laughed off the advice at first, saying he was happy as long as he could eat well, but ultimately promised Park he would sign up for a savings plan — drawing laughter from those present.

Yun had earlier disclosed on a television variety program that he took out a loan of around 600 million won ($450,000) to open his restaurant. At the time, he also admitted he was drawing no salary because loan interest payments were eating into his income.


betterj@heraldcorp.com