Kim Ji-seok Says His First Kiss Was with British Girl in Middle School, Then He Was Scared and Kept His Distance

Actor Kim Ji-seok opened up about both his family history and his first kiss during the June 8 broadcast of the SBS variety show “Ani Geunde Jinjja!.”

Actors Jin Sun-kyu and Kim Ji-seok appeared as guests on the program. While speaking about his family, Kim began by recalling an unusual atmosphere at a family meal years ago. “A long time ago, we were having a family dinner, and the mood felt strange,” he said. “It turned out that my father had been away on business trips for several months, and my mother was pregnant.”

Kim then revealed that there was another surprising detail behind the situation. “On top of that, my father had already had a vasectomy,” he said. He explained that he later learned his father’s vasectomy had somehow been reversed. “In the end, my youngest sibling was born after beating odds of one in 10,000,” Kim said. “That is why we always tell the youngest that they are a blessed child.”

Kim also spoke about his first love, saying that his first romantic attraction was toward Rebecca, whom he met while studying in the United Kingdom. From there, he brought up the story of his first kiss as a child. “It was when I did not even really understand what it meant to like someone,” Kim said. “When I was in my first year of middle school, Rebecca gave me my first kiss, and I was so shocked that I froze.”

Rather than feeling excitement or a rush of dopamine, Kim said the emotion was closer to a sense of defeat. He also confessed that afterward, he remembered practicing kissing on the back of his hand. Kim said that he and Rebecca did not become a couple after that first kiss. “I was so startled that I ended up keeping my distance instead,” he recalled. “Rebecca was probably flustered when she saw me acting that way.”

Kim named aging as his biggest recent concern. “I saw research from Stanford University saying that aging accelerates sharply at the ages of 34, 44, and 60,” he said. “Since I happened to be passing through 44, I started paying attention to it.”

He said his goal is well-aging, or growing older in a healthy way. To that end, he has stopped eating flour-based foods such as ramyeon, tteokbokki, and fried foods, and he now limits himself to one cup of coffee a day. Kim also said he takes wheatgrass powder, olive oil, and various nutritional supplements.

In response, the other cast members complimented him, saying that he has long been known for his youthful appearance.