Comedian Kim Su-yong quits dog walking job after expenses exceed earnings

Comedian Kim Su-yong recently attempted a dog walking part-time job, only to face an unexpected situation where his expenses exceeded his earnings. The sight of him requesting an early exit from the owner after his attempt to 'make money' turned into spending drew laughter from viewers.

On September 4, the YouTube channel 'Yukgam Kim Su-yong' released a video titled 'The hourly wage for dog walking seemed pretty good, so I tried it myself.' In the video, Kim mentioned that his recent subscriber growth hasn't been as large as expected, saying, "I'm thinking of going back to my roots and making some money with a part-time job today, just like I did in Seongsu-dong."

The atmosphere immediately suggested a shaky break-even point when the production team pointed out, "The hourly wage is a bit over 10,000 won, but a coffee right now is 14,000 won." In fact, Kim has previously showcased content where he dives into tasks far removed from his celebrity status or broadcasting career, such as experiencing a perfume testing part-time job in Seongsu-dong. His YouTube content has established a narrative where he doesn't just show a celebrity's daily life but actually enters the labor field to experience it firsthand.

This time, he discovered a dog walking job while searching for new part-time work through a secondhand transaction application. Kim stated that he had experience raising a dog about 40 years ago, and before the walk, he used AI to learn precautions for interacting with companion dogs.

After receiving the dog 'Torch' from the owner, Kim set off for the walk in earnest. However, due to the summer heat and significant physical exertion, he quickly began to sweat. When the production team joked, "It's because you have a lot of hair," Kim quipped back with his signature self-deprecating humor, "He has a lot of hair, but so do I."

Kim's eccentric behavior continued during the walk. He drank water intended for Torch and even took 'four-cut' photos to give to the owner, effectively turning a simple dog walking job into a 'Kim Su-yong-style variety experience.'

The problem was the expenses compared to the income. Entering a cafe to escape the heat, Kim became flustered while calculating his potential earnings, saying, "I think I'm spending more than 13,000 won? Between taking photos and everything... I spent money like water today."

With the hourly wage at around 13,000 won, the continuous occurrence of incidental costs like cafe usage and photo shooting caused the original purpose of the 'side job' to crumble. Ultimately, Kim contacted the owner directly to request an early finish.

He pleaded, "You can pay me less, so can I go? I'm just going to leave. Please take Torch with you. I'm begging you." In the end, Kim was unable to complete the scheduled itinerary and finished the dog walking job after about 2 hours and 30 minutes.

The fun of this video does not lie simply in a famous celebrity doing a part-time job. The paradox of 'starting to make money but ending up spending more' combined with Kim's unique lifestyle comedy created a complete comedic piece.

Having been active since the 1990s, Kim has built his primary communication style around an indifferent expression, a dry tone, and non-exaggerated self-deprecating humor. Recently, content that reveals his realistic daily life without exaggeration, rather than grand success stories, has been creating new forms of entertainment.

While celebrity content in the YouTube era is expanding toward showcasing luxurious travels, expensive consumption, and connections with other famous people, Kim's part-time job experience stands on the opposite side. It is a method of bringing the ordinary reality—that 'even celebrities earn, spend, and use calculators in their daily lives'—into the realm of variety shows.

This dog walking attempt ultimately left behind not a grand side income, but a brief connection with Torch, unexpected expenses, and Kim's declaration of surrender: "Please take him." Rather than the ambition to make money, his attitude of admitting a loss and turning it into laughter demonstrated the true charm of Kim Su-yong-style lifestyle variety.