Kim Jun-ho reveals Kim Dae-hee's loyalty after agency crisis

Comedian Kim Jun-ho looked back on 27 years spent alongside his colleague Kim Dae-hee, expressing profound gratitude to Kim for standing by his side during the most precarious period of his life. The long-standing bond between the two was highlighted as Kim revealed how Kim Dae-hee had kept a place reserved for him even while he was suspended from broadcasting following an unprecedented crisis, when his agency effectively disbanded due to business failure and management embezzlement.

In the 356th episode of the tvN variety program 'You Quiz on the Block' aired on the 19th, Kim Jun-ho and Kim Dae-hee, who have worked together for 27 years, appeared. Moving beyond mere colleagues, the two, who have navigated an entire era of the Korean comedy industry together, reminisced about their lives, including their unknown days, their peak years, their business ventures, and unexpected crises.

During the broadcast, Kim revealed that he had Kim Jun-ho in mind when he was personally establishing his own company. At that time, Kim had suspended his broadcasting activities and had essentially stepped back from the entertainment industry due to various incidents and controversies. It was a period of 'self-reflection' for Kim.

Recalling the situation, Kim explained, "It was a time when I was taking a short break. When I was appearing in various news reports and incidents, and when I had stepped down from broadcasts and folded."

He continued, saying that while Kim was forming a new company centered around junior colleagues and staff, he included Kim's name in the company name and even prepared a seat for him in the office.

Kim said, "Dae-hee hyung established the company with the remaining juniors and staff, and he named it 'JDB' (Junho Daehee Brothers) and had a seat reserved for me. He said that someday I would return."

What remained as a touching memory for him was not simply the act of leaving a single desk empty. Kim remarked, "The seat itself is one thing, and the name is another, but I was grateful that he, who should have been focusing on acting, continued to play the role of CEO and worked hard traveling around for business."

This statement captures why it is difficult to describe the relationship between the two as a simple 'comedy duo.' Relationships between entertainers are formed within an industrial structure where interests such as the success of a work, broadcasting schedules, agency contracts, appearance fees, and advertisements intersect in complex ways. In particular, comedians have a higher dependency on broadcasting programs compared to actors or singers; because the volatility of fixed appearance opportunities is high, the threshold for a comeback can be even higher if their professional foundation is shaken.

Kim Jun-ho and Kim Dae-hee did not start from a solid foundation. The two made their names in the broadcasting industry after going through long periods of being unknown and taking minor roles, building their unique chemistry and characters centered around public comedy programs. Since they have witnessed each other's joys and sorrows while working in the same field for a long time, the fact that Kim Dae-hee accepted Kim's hiatus not as an 'end' but as a 'time waiting for a comeback' is deeply meaningful.

In particular, it is difficult to understand the connection between the two without mentioning the Coco Entertainment incident in 2015.

Coco Entertainment, where Kim served as co-CEO, fell into a serious financial crisis at the time due to management's embezzlement of company funds and their subsequent disappearance. As disruptions occurred in company operations, problems also arose in the payment of appearance fees to affiliated entertainers, eventually pushing the company into a situation where it was difficult to maintain normal management functions. In an entertainment agency, the blockage of appearance fees that should be paid to affiliated actors and comedians is not merely a matter of deteriorating management. It is a structural problem that can sequentially shake the livelihoods of affiliated entertainers, their contractual relationships, and their trust with production sites.

Ultimately, Coco Entertainment met its end with closure. It was also a massive blow to Kim. As both his activities as an entertainer and his responsibilities as a manager were discussed together, his name emerged as a major controversy in the broadcasting industry for a while. From the public's perspective, a star's crisis is on a different level from the failure of a work's success. This is because a person's public image, private life, economic responsibility, and human relationships are all placed on the stand at once.

In such a situation, Kim established a new company. He named it 'JDB Entertainment,' which carried the meaning of 'Junho Daehee Brothers.' Even though Kim was not in a position to return to the company immediately, Kim had left his name as part of the company's identity.

Even more notable is the fact that Kim personally handled the economic issues of junior actors during the company's launch. It was previously revealed that Kim decided to use his own personal funds to resolve unpaid appearance fees for some actors to alleviate the financial difficulties of junior entertainers alongside Kim.

This is an example that goes beyond a simple story of loyalty, illustrating the structural reality of the entertainment industry at the time. When an agency collapses due to management difficulties, the first to be hit are the rookies and unknown entertainers in the weakest links of the company. Even if appearance fees are delayed for months, there are many cases where it is difficult to actively raise issues due to concerns over contractual relationships and future activities. This is why an agency's financial health is directly linked to an entertainer's survival.

In that situation, Kim established a new company under his own name, embracing his juniors while keeping the possibility of Kim's return in mind. This is exactly what moved Kim.

In Kim's recollection, the word 'seat' carries great symbolism. While it may be just a single desk in an office, to him, it was a sign that he could recover his position in his social relationships. Even at a moment when everything had collapsed, someone told him, 'Your place has not disappeared yet.'

In the entertainment industry, a 'seat' is not just a physical space. It is a place on a broadcast screen, a place where production teams call, a place where colleagues wait, and a place to stand before the public again. Once an image is tarnished or activities are suspended, the process of reclaiming that seat is never simple. In that sense, the desk Kim left behind was both a physical space waiting for a person's return and a device symbolizing the continuity of a relationship.

This is also why the relationship between Kim Jun-ho and Kim Dae-hee remains a topic of public interest. From the heyday of public comedy to the ups and downs of the broadcasting industry, the business experiments of agency management, and the expansion of their respective fields, the two have left marks on each other's lives at important moments, even while occupying different positions.

Kim Jun-ho subsequently recovered his public standing through variety programs, and Kim has also expanded his scope as a comedian, content producer, and businessman. In particular, the expansion of YouTube and digital content markets has opened new survival spaces for traditional broadcast comedians. Moving away from a structure where broadcasters unilaterally select performers, entertainers can now directly produce and distribute their own characters and content, allowing the accumulated recognition and character assets of veteran comedians to be utilized in new ways.

Throughout this process, the two have continued their relationship as colleagues while simultaneously satirizing and competing with one another. For those who make laughter their profession, friendship often reveals its true nature during the most tragic moments. On stage, attacking and teasing one another becomes the material for laughter, but off stage, protecting one another when a colleague falls can become the essence of the relationship.

The story Kim Jun-ho shared on the 19th is not ultimately about the number 27. It is a record of how a long-accumulated relationship functions during a moment of crisis.

During moments of brilliant success, many people stay by your side. However, not many people leave a space for you when your activities are suspended, your name is in the news, and even your own future is uncertain. What Kim Dae-hee left for Kim Jun-ho was not just a desk in a corner of an office, but the belief that he could return someday.

The reason this 27-year duo is still going strong lies in that very point. Laughter is created on stage, but the sincerity of a relationship is usually revealed after the stage is gone. This is why the 'empty seat' Kim Jun-ho belatedly revealed leaves such a long-lasting impression.