[Herald Pop (now Herald Muse)]
[Herald Pop (now Herald Muse)]

Comedian Jeong Jong-cheol left Ilsan in Gyeonggi Province for Seoul's Gangnam district at his wife's insistence, he revealed in a recent interview.

The story emerged Monday in a full-length episode of "Geurigura," a YouTube channel, titled "Economic Stories Good for Listening in Bed — Kim Gura Economic Research Institute Full Version."

Fellow comedian Lee Gye-in recalled on the show that Jeong had once urged him to move into the same apartment complex. "I did a live KBS variety show with Jeong Jong-cheol, who is famous for his Okdongjja character," Lee said. "He told me, 'Sunbae, I got a unit of about 230 square meters at the Siksa-dong Xi apartment — it's incredible. There's an amazing fishing spot right as you enter on the right. You can fish there, so you absolutely have to move in.'"

Lee said he had been tempted by the pitch. "I thought, 'I could stop by the fishing spot, head home for a nap, then come back and fish some more — let me think about it,'" he said, laughing at his own enthusiasm.

But Jeong, who had been so eager to recruit his colleague, left Ilsan himself after just one year. "Jongcheol makes decisions fast," said Kim Gura, the channel's host. "He stayed exactly a year, then said, 'This isn't it,' sold the place and was out."

Lee said Jeong had told him he was taking a loss on the sale. "I asked him, 'Why are you leaving? Just fish and live easy.' He said his wife told him she'd divorce him if they didn't go back to Seoul — that they should at least get something small in Gangnam and move there, and why wait around for prices to go up," Lee said. Kim Gura added that the move to Seocho-gu's Bangbae neighborhood had worked out well for Jeong.

"Honestly, I was tempted by what Jeong Jong-cheol said. Now that I think of Okdongjja, I suddenly feel a surge of heat," Lee said, before adding with a laugh, "But he didn't con me."

Meanwhile, Jeong made headlines last year when it emerged that he had purchased a building in Jamwon-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, under a corporate name for 4.5 billion won ($3.4 million).


min3654@heraldcorp.com