Kim Chang-ok reveals 'two-home lifestyle' in Jeju: 'I'm thankful to the centipede'

Communication expert Kim Chang-ok has revealed his unique lifestyle of commuting between Seoul and Jeju Island for approximately nine years. Having traveled the nation through lectures and broadcasts, he established a separate residence in Jeju to adjust the pace of his life following spinal disc surgery. As his family also moved down, his so-called 'two-home lifestyle' began. However, for his children, who had expected the romance of living in Jeju, an unexpected 'natural enemy' was waiting.

On the MBC entertainment program 'Radio Star' aired on the 9th, Kim Chang-ok appeared alongside singer Chang Kiha, rapper Swings, and (G)I-DLE's Soyeon to share the background of his life split between Seoul and Jeju. He revealed that he has been living this way for eight to nine years. The reason for securing an additional residence was rooted in a personal experience that required him to change his very way of life.

Kim Chang-ok explained that after undergoing spinal disc surgery in the past, his nationwide lecture schedule became a significant physical burden. Recalling that time, he said, "I felt that if I kept going like this, problems would arise," and told his wife he wanted to take some time to rest in Jeju.

Jeju was not merely a vacation spot for him. As Jeju Island is his hometown, Kim Chang-ok asked his wife to let him visit his hometown alone for a few days and suggested that the family come down to Jeju on weekends. It is true that he secretly looked forward to the idea of staying alone, away from his family. He drew laughter from the studio by admitting, "Inwardly, I thought, 'It's even better if they don't come.'"

Later, Kim Chang-ok asked a friend to look for a house to stay in in Jeju. What he wanted was a small, old house located by the sea. However, considering the scarcity and location value of houses near the ocean in Jeju, a modest space was not necessarily cheap. His friend reportedly replied, "Those are the most expensive."

While the Jeju home he eventually secured became a space for rest and recharging for Kim Chang-ok, it did not hold the same meaning for his family. In particular, for his young children, their first memory of Jeju remained a much more intense event than beautiful nature.

Kim Chang-ok shared the situation, saying, "The children were sleeping, and one day, a centipede fell from the ceiling onto a child's face." The children were around the 2nd or 3rd grade of elementary school, and after experiencing this, they declared, "We are never coming to Jeju again."

While sharing this anecdote, Kim Chang-ok made the studio burst into laughter by saying he was actually "thankful to the centipede." It was a joke suggesting that an unexpected "distance control device" had appeared to prevent his family from finding the Jeju life burdensome.

Kim Chang-ok's life in Jeju draws attention not just as a story of real estate or housing types, but as an instance of redesigning one's life amidst excessive schedules and physical strain. Especially for him, who has primarily operated through nationwide lectures, rest was not simply a state of not working, but rather a way of separating the pace of life and space to ensure sustainable activity.

It is also interesting that Kim Chang-ok, who has met the public through the themes of "communication" and "relationships," sought balance in his own life by separating his professional space in Seoul from his private space in Jeju. Although living in Jeju with his family was not romantic from the start, the two-region lifestyle that has continued for nearly nine years has become a way of life for him to coordinate work and rest, and family and personal time.

Ultimately, what symbolizes Kim Chang-ok's life in Jeju is not a grand villa or perfect relaxation. The choice to slow down life after spinal surgery, the desire to return to his hometown, and a single centipede falling on a young child's face intertwined to create his current 'two-home lifestyle.' While it has become a place the children never want to visit again, it is clear that for Kim Chang-ok, Jeju has remained a space to regain life's balance over a long period of time.