Yoo Jae Suk reveals he quit smoking 20 years ago

Yoo Jae Suk revealed his past smoking habit, stating, "It has been 20 years since I quit." In the 359th episode of tvN's "You Quiz on the Block," airing on the 9th, the program explores stories of people who turned life's crises into new starting points under the theme "You Thought It Was the End." During the episode, Yoo shares his own experience of quitting smoking to build empathy with the guests.

This episode features Im Jong-soon, a former presidential bodyguard turned wingsuit flyer; Lee June-seo, a hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgeon who has fought alcohol addiction for nine years; Min Ani, a first-generation romance manga artist; and Lee Jung-eun, an actress with 36 years of experience. Their histories reflect the program's intention to show that one can reset the direction of life even after failure and frustration, rather than focusing solely on professional success.

Yoo's confession about quitting smoking came while listening to the story of Lee June-seo, a doctor who experienced alcohol dependence. Lee revealed that he became close to alcohol through band activities during his college years and began drinking heavily after experiencing extreme burnout during his time as a fellow. Having even experienced waking up in an emergency room after drinking, he shared the process of how he eventually decided to achieve total abstinence after several attempts at moderation.

In particular, Lee plans to explain the difference between simple love for alcohol and addiction, as well as the recovery process to escape addiction, by comparing alcohol to a "harmful lover" based on his personal experience and medical knowledge. His perspective carries a different weight than typical advice for sobriety, as it combines his professional standing as a doctor with his personal experience as someone who faced addiction.

At this point, Yoo confesses that he also smoked in the past and that it has been 20 years since he quit. Although smoking and drinking are different habits, they share a commonality in that both involved stopping a long-repeated behavior and transitioning to a new lifestyle. Yoo's brief confession feels less like a celebrity revealing his private life and more like the unique conversational style of "You Quiz," where he overlays his own experiences onto the stories of the guests.

73-year-old Im Jong-soon shows an even more dramatic transformation. A former Blue House bodyguard who protected five presidents over 23 years, he is a UDT veteran who completed explosive ordnance disposal training with the U.S. Navy and Navy SEAL training before working in security. Since retiring, he has jumped into the entirely different fields of skydiving and wingsuit flying. To date, he has recorded 2,375 skydives and 365 wingsuit flights, and is challenging the Guinness World Record for the "Oldest Wingsuit Flyer."

In particular, the episode will reveal anecdotes from his security career, such as wingsuit flights performed at speeds of 200 km/h at an altitude of 4,000m, a clash with Soviet bodyguards during the 1990 Korea-Soviet summit, and the so-called "elevator battle" that occurred at a multilateral New York meeting involving 80 countries. His life, moving from a profession requiring extreme control and tension like security to a sport that cuts through the sky, most dramatically illustrates the theme of this special feature: "A Second Life."

85-year-old artist Min Ani shows another transition that transcends generational and media boundaries. Having drawn manga for over 60 years, she began uploading drawings of idols to YouTube at the suggestion of her daughter. She has met a new readership by reinterpreting currently active idols—starting with BTS Jimin and including BLACKPINK, IVE, and RESCENE—in her classic romance manga style. Her artistic style, which drew admiration from Yoo for being completed with only paper and pen, has garnered attention as a unique visual language connecting the past and the present.

Min Ani's life itself encapsulates the ups and downs of Korean romance manga history. She nurtured her dream of becoming a manga artist as a nine-year-old girl fleeing during the Korean War, and after debuting at age 21, she made a name for herself in the romance manga industry with a glamorous drawing style emphasizing large, sparkling eyes. At one time, her studio was so crowded that apprentices from all over the country came to work with her, living in the same house as 17 others, and she also shared connections with the author of "Run Hani," Lee Jin-joo, during her apprentice days. Changes in the industrial environment, such as past manga censorship and the expansion of Japanese romance manga imports, were also events that pierced through her life.

Lee Jung-eun's story completes another narrative: "A Late-Blooming Prime." An actress of 36 years, she nurtured her dream of acting by working as a stage staff member in her 20s, and in her 30s, she founded her own theater company, only to be burdened with 50,000,000 won in debt. By working various jobs including delivering green juice, selling soy sauce, and hotel serving, she paid off the debt over 13 years, eventually expanding her career into TV and film in her 40s to become the beloved actress she is today in her 50s.

Lee revealed not only that she borrowed money from Shin Ha Kyun and Ji Jin-hee but also that she taught acting to Lee Hyo-ri and Ji Jin-hee in the past. Since then, she has expanded her acting repertoire through works such as "Mr. Sunshine," "Because This is Good," "Parasite," and "When the Camellia Blooms," and showed her intense preparation for characters, such as visiting an actual organic pig farm for voice acting in Bong Joon-ho's "Okja."

Even Lee confessed to experiencing a slump last year. In the midst of her prime, she was gripped by questions like, "What is life? What is death?" This reveals the fact that success does not necessarily guarantee stability or inner peace. Gong Hyo-jin also expressed her affection for Lee in a special interview, stating, "I shared in my mother's prime." The two have worked together as mother and daughter in "When the Camellia Blooms" and recently in the film "Gyeongju Trip."

The 359th episode of "You Quiz on the Block" is compelling because it highlights the "stoppage and transition" leading up to success rather than the success itself. From Yoo Jae Suk quitting smoking and the doctor choosing sobriety after a battle with alcohol, to the former presidential bodyguard turned wingsuit flyer, the 85-year-old manga artist drawing idols amidst changing times, and the actress who reached her prime after decades of obscurity—though their starting points differ, their messages converge. A moment that seemed like an "end" in life does not necessarily have to be the final destination.