Lee Seon-min faces urine and oral tests to prove 10 million won smoking cessation pledge

“If you catch me smoking, I will give you 10 million won.”

Comedian Lee Seon-min's radical 'bounty pledge' regarding his smoking cessation led to actual tests to verify whether he has truly quit. After initially offering a massive 30 million won but feeling the burden, Lee adjusted the amount to 10 million won and eventually underwent public verification through urine and oral tests to fulfill his promise.

On the 19th, a video titled 'Lee Seon-min's One Month of Quitting Smoking, Is He Keeping It?' was released on the YouTube channel Psick Univ. The content was produced in a format parodying SBS's 'Unanswered Questions,' where Lee Yong-ju used a serious tone reminiscent of Kim Sang-joong to track Lee's smoking cessation pledge, providing much laughter.

The production team investigated Lee's surroundings much like a real investigative program. They even checked inside his vehicle, but no cigarettes were found; nevertheless, those around him did not stop casting suspicious glances at whether his smoking cessation was truly lasting. Ultimately, as if words or willpower alone were insufficient, an objective verification process was conducted.

Lee visited a pharmacist to explain his smoking cessation status. He revealed, “I think it’s been a little over fifteen days since I quit,” and spoke honestly about his past smoking habits. He stated that while he had significantly reduced the amount of combustible cigarettes he smoked, he used to smoke about one pack of heat-not-burn cigarettes a day.

The process of quitting smoking has not been entirely smooth. Lee confessed that it was hardest after eating spicy food or during drinking sessions when people around him would head out to smoke. He noted that the most difficult moments were when the urge to smoke himself rose while being in familiar smoking situations.

Nevertheless, he felt some changes after quitting. Lee mentioned that he sometimes feels more refreshed when he wakes up in the morning. However, he drew laughter by appearing hesitant to agree with the feedback from those around him saying his complexion had improved.

Ultimately, tests were conducted to confirm his smoking cessation status. The pharmacist proceeded with the process of checking for nicotine-related cessation through urine and oral tests, and Lee could not hide his nervous expression while waiting for the results.

First, during the urine test, the atmosphere became momentarily tense as only one of the two lines appeared faintly. It was a scene that raised suspicion of whether his smoking cessation could not be perfectly confirmed.

However, the situation reversed when a clear result appeared in the subsequent oral test. As soon as he confirmed the result, Lee cheered, reacting by saying, “It would have been even more unfair if I hadn't done this,” actively refuting the suspicions surrounding him.

Lee's current challenge to quit smoking began during a conversation with Chimchak Man last month. Appearing on the YouTube channel 'Chimchakman Original Museum' last August, Lee expressed his goal to quit smoking before turning forty and to maintain his weight below 90kg. At the time, he revealed his weight was 96kg and expressed his intention to change his lifestyle for his health.

Chimchak Man revealed that he was also a former smoker and has been smoke-free for four years, introducing a unique method. He made a pledge to give 10 million won if someone reported a scene of him smoking with evidence, sharing his experience that the psychological pressure of not wanting to give that money to someone else helped him sustain his smoking cessation.

Chimchak Man suggested that Lee should bet an even larger amount, proposing 30 million won. Lee eventually declared that he would pay 30 million won to anyone who witnessed him smoking "anywhere on Earth" and reported the evidence, but later adjusted the amount to 10 million won, the same as Chimchak Man, deciding the initial amount was too high.

This type of 'pledge-based content' surrounding smoking cessation is a facet of recent YouTube-style self-management narratives. Rather than simply declaring, “I will quit smoking,” individuals are expanding smoking cessation into an entertainment narrative by posting large bounties to make their actions public and even turning the actual testing into content.

Of course, this content does not confirm long-term smoking cessation success in a medical sense. The test results should be viewed as content confirming his status at that specific moment, and ultimately, the important task of smoking cessation is a continuous change in lifestyle rather than a one-time test.

Still, for Lee, this challenge goes beyond mere laughter. This is because he turned a decision made for health reasons into a public promise, created a high-stakes mechanism by offering a large bounty, and stood before actual medical testing.

While the bold 30 million won declaration was lowered to 10 million won, the weight of the pledge remains. What remains for Lee is the more realistic next step: how long he can uphold his 'smoking cessation declaration' beyond a single test result.