Lee Seung-gi, despite earning much, says his ingrained frugality is "unavoidable"

Singer and actor Lee Seung-gi has once again found himself embroiled in an unexpected frugality controversy, this time involving broken chopsticks following his previous comments on gas prices. As he, who is estimated to possess tens of billions of won in assets, draws attention for his modest lifestyle habits, even the production crew joked, "You save a lot." While Lee Seung-gi responded with laughter, he expressed his frustration regarding the controversy surrounding his gas prices.

On the 15th, a video titled "Do you want to gather once?" was released on the YouTube channel 'Lee Seung-gi 2'. Lee Seung-gi, who visited a practice room for a concert ensemble, asked the production crew about the reaction to his recently started channel. As interest exceeded expectations following the first video release, he shared his honest feelings about the new content.

Lee Seung-gi said, "To be honest, I didn't expect any reaction from those around me, but they said it was good because it was comfortable to watch." He continued, expressing satisfaction, "There are many cold-hearted people among my acquaintances who act as monitors. But seeing it after a long time, they said it was okay." The video has garnered over 3,000 comments and exceeded 2 million views.

He stated that the viewers' reactions gave him the courage to continue new challenges. "It was very encouraging that many people said they wanted to see this kind of content," he explained. "If we try too hard to be too cool or do too well, we can't even start. It gave me the courage to think, 'Right, I should do something comfortable and fun like this.'" It showed his intention to show a comfortable and natural side rather than struggling to produce perfect results.

However, in this video, Lee Seung-gi's humble meal scene drew as much attention as the serious conversation about the content. As Lee Seung-gi ate cup noodles and kimbap with broken chopsticks, the production crew advised him to use new chopsticks and joked, "Hyung, you save a lot. You save on gas and you save on chopsticks too." They brought up the gas price remarks made by Lee Seung-gi that had recently become a hot topic online.

The controversy began with a video released last month. At that time, Lee Seung-gi mentioned his changed fueling habits after marriage, stating that he drives when he needs time alone. He said, "In the past, I would unconditionally go to the nearest place to get gas. Since getting married, I at least do some searching before fueling up." While the intention was to check gas station prices to save even a little on living expenses, some netizens reacted by saying, "Is there a reason to care about gas prices?" or "I can't really relate."

Lee Seung-gi directly mentioned the controversy in this video. At the production crew's joke, he burst into laughter, saying, "Gas prices... Hey, why are there so many articles about gas prices?" He further confessed that he even heard from an acquaintance, "If you go to get cheap gas, you'll spend more on gas just getting there?" He added the explanation that he is not traveling long distances to find cheap gas stations.

Lee Seung-gi revealed that he actually just looks for gas stations near his home in Sinsa-dong or, if he goes far, in Yeoksam-dong. He explained that he is not blindly searching for cheap places to save on gas, but rather checking prices within his living radius. He expressed his grievance, saying, "We can't go around explaining every single one of those things." This is interpreted as him feeling burdened by the situation where minor lifestyle habits become news articles and require explanations.

Lee Seung-gi married actress Lee Da-in in 2023 and had a daughter the following year. While his lifestyle may have changed after marriage and childbirth, all he stated was that he has come to look at gas station prices a bit more. The exact scale of his assets has not been disclosed, though an estimate of approximately 40 billion won was made in the real estate industry in 2022. Therefore, the '40 billion won asset theory' also needs to be distinguished from officially confirmed asset scales.

Ultimately, this happening shows the temperature difference between public perception of a celebrity's wealth and everyday consumption habits. Even for a celebrity presumed to hold significant assets, there is nothing strange about comparing prices and using items sparingly in daily life. However, the more public attention a style receives, the easier it is for minor remarks and actions to be interpreted extensively. While Lee Seung-gi, who became a topic of conversation from gas prices to chopsticks, moved past the situation with laughter, his YouTube channel, which aimed to show a comfortable daily life, seems to have spread into an unexpected debate over frugality.

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