48-year-old South Korean singer Kim Jong-kook recently revealed on the variety show “Our Mischievous Kids” that he had been a victim of fraud, with losses amounting to 1 billion Korean won (about 5.27 million Chinese yuan), much to the surprise of the guests present.
In the episode of “Our Mischievous Kids” aired on the 9th, Kim Jong-kook and Lee Sang-min visited the home of male star Choi Jin-hyuk. When the three talked about money matters, Choi Jin-hyuk mentioned that he had been receiving text messages recently about borrowing money and investment invitations. Lee Sang-min then casually asked Kim Jong-kook if he had ever been deceived, to which Kim Jong-kook bluntly admitted that he had been “scammed many times.”
Kim Jong-kook revealed that in the past, someone had advised him on financial planning, leading him to invest billions of Korean won, only to realize it was a scam and he could not recover the money in the end.
He admitted that due to the impact of the fraud incident, he no longer pays attention to making money through channels other than work income. He also disclosed that people often contact him to borrow money, but he decides whether to lend money to others based on his mother’s advice of “Don’t expect to get the money back.”
Kim Jong-kook, who debuted as the lead singer of the “Turbo” group in his early career, won the Korean SBS, KBS, and MBC Music Awards in 2005, becoming the second singer after Cho Yong-pil to receive these three major awards. In 2006, he won the main award at the 21st Korean Golden Disc Awards; starting in 2010, he served as the host of the popular variety show “Running Man”; on February 25, 2018, Kim Jong-kook and his mother joined “Our Mischievous Kids” as regular members.
Kim Jong-kook possesses a rare high-pitched singing range for a male singer, and his unique voice has a very high recognition. In the show “Hidden Singer,” Kim Jong-kook received 0 elimination votes in the first round, becoming the first challenger in the history of the show to receive 0 elimination votes. In the Korean entertainment industry, he is known as the “irreplaceable voice.”