Kim Min-kyung, an editor on Minumsa’s International Literature Team, is set to appear on MBC’s variety show Radio Star. Living up to her nickname as the "publishing world’s idol," she’ll candidly and wittily dish on everything from her day job and YouTube work to her down-to-earth convictions as a working professional.
Airing on the 24th, this week’s Radio Star features Lee Ji-young, Kim Dae-ho, Kyung Soo-jin, and Kim Min-kyung in a special titled "Everyone Is Fighting for Their Beliefs." On the show, Kim Min-kyung appears as a sixth-year editor at Minumsa, sharing stories from inside and outside the publishing industry.
She walks viewers through what an editor does to bring a book to readers—from translation contracts and cover design to marketing. Unlike her quiet core duties of combing through proofs all day to fix typos and polish sentences, she’s built unexpected star power with her bubbly on-camera banter across the company’s YouTube channel and other content.
In particular, she shocks the studio by revealing the viral impact of the content series that made her the "publishing world’s idol": 'Bijuryeu Invite Talk' (a freewheeling chat among people with distinct tastes about films, comics, and books) earned a fervent cult following. A 1,500-seat offline concert sold out in just five seconds, with a waitlist that swelled to 20,000.
She also lays out the real-life juggle of being both an office worker and an on-screen creator. Kim explains that she uses half-days or vacation time, or films after work, to keep up her YouTube activities. With the very office-worker mindset of "If things don’t work out, I can always go to the office," she draws laughs—adding that having a primary job actually lets her enjoy content creation more comfortably.
Turning to fellow guest Kim Dae-ho, she doesn’t hold back. "I have zero plans to quit right now," she says, adding, "When I feel like resigning, I think of announcer Kim Dae-ho," sending the set into laughter. As a tongue-in-cheek opposite of a role model, she even coins the term "anti-model" on the spot, showing off sharp variety-show instincts.
Kim also opens up about spending six years unemployed before joining Minumsa. After preparing for media company entrance exams and applying to news outlets dozens of times only to be cut at the final stage, she admits that stepping into MBC’s headquarters to record Radio Star stirred up strong emotions.
Family stories follow. She says the support of her accomplished family—who studied at Seoul National University’s College of Pharmacy and went on to law school—helped her endure the long jobless stretch. The MCs marvel, calling it a "home that smells like books."
She’s also set to reveal the realities she faced after entering publishing, an episode about breaking down on the street after comparing herself to an ex-boyfriend, and even tips on how to carry books in style to match the trending "text-hip" aesthetic.
With sincerity in her day job and a playful on-screen persona, all eyes are on what kind of razor-sharp wit Kim Min-kyung will display on Radio Star. The episode airs on the 24th at 10:30 p.m.