Former KBS announcers-turned-TV personalities delivered a shocking confession about the brutal reality they faced after declaring themselves freelancers.
On June 22, the YouTube channel Zzanbro featured former KBS announcers Kim Byung-chan, Im Sung-min, Kim Hyun-wook, and Kim Sun-geun, who spoke candidly about the freelance world they encountered after walking away from stable staff jobs.
Im Sung-min, who joined KBS in 1994 as part of the 20th open recruitment class, said, "I was basically the original freelancer," adding, "I left the network when no one else would." While at KBS, she fronted flagship programs like Carrying Love and Entertainment Weekly, but in 2001 she declared she would go freelance to pursue her dream of acting.
But reality hit hard. "Back then, the whole concept of being a freelancer hadn’t really taken root like it has now," Im recalled. "I did sign with a good management company, but they had no idea how to handle an announcer-turned-talent, so I was practically left on the shelf."
She left the network to act, but the move backfired when she was unexpectedly pushed out of shows she was already hosting. "They told me I had to drop every program if I wanted to act," she said. "At the time, I was hosting Earth Expedition when the PD called and asked, 'You’re doing great—why are you quitting?'"
It turned out her manager had submitted her resignation from the show without her consent. "Without me knowing, my manager went and said I was quitting," Im revealed. "That’s how I unwillingly let go of the program and ended up with a long hiatus."
The struggles didn’t end there. After moving to a new agency, she faced another crisis. "The new agency’s CEO stashed company funds and fled overseas," she said. "Back then, managers handled appearance-fee bank accounts, and when the CEO vanished, my manager disappeared with my account too."
The fallout left her in dire straits financially. "At one point, I couldn’t even pay my National Pension contributions," she confessed. "For far longer than I expected, I had almost no income," she added, drawing sympathy.
Kim Sun-geun, who joined KBS in 2014 as part of the 41st class, also exposed the harsh truth of going freelance. Leaving KBS in 2022, he now admits he was overconfident. "I had never failed at anything," he said. "I got into college on my first try, did theater, joined KBS, hosted the shows I wanted, and even became a radio DJ. I was completely high on myself." He added, "I was incredibly arrogant. I left thinking, 'Why couldn’t I become the next Jun Hyun-moo?'"
After resigning, the TV appearances he had been promised never materialized. "I thought going freelance would boost my income, and I left with promised bookings. But promises were just promises—none of them were kept," he said.
As income dried up, Kim took on all kinds of jobs to make ends meet—designated driving, laundry deliveries, loading and unloading parcels, and packaging work at a publishing complex. He even joined clinical pharmacology trials. "It was a 3-day, 2-night inpatient test where you take meds and get your blood drawn over and over. You could earn close to 1 million won each time, so I did whatever I could," he shared.
In closing, Kim reflected, "It feels like all the foam has been scraped off my life these past four years. Now I’m grateful for each day."