Comedian Yoon Taek has revealed a stunning reversal in his past — before comedy, he ran a business pulling in 30 million won a day with 31 employees, only to go bankrupt in the venture bubble and lose his parents’ home to auction.
Per Newsen, Yoon opened up on the October 10 broadcast of MBN’s “Kim Ju-ha’s Day & Night,” appearing alongside Lee Seung-yoon.
An SBS seventh-generation comedian who debuted at 31, Yoon said his promotional-goods business thrived, leading him into clothing and Dongdaemun wholesale. “Including costs, 30 million won a day was coming in,” he recalled, and he later expanded into a Gangnam venture with 31 staff.
When host Kim Ju-ha asked if it was during the venture boom, Yoon confirmed. “Then the venture bubble came, and it was enormous. In the end, I went bankrupt. I even lost my parents’ house — it went to auction,” he confessed. “My mother mopped the floor with a rag, crying terribly. I was such an unfilial son.”
Buried in debts worth hundreds of millions of won, Yoon cut off friends and acquaintances at 31 — contacting only his parents — and headed to Daehakro to chase his dream of becoming a comedian. He recalled walking home to Singil-dong and living on a 1 million won deposit with 250,000 won monthly rent in a redevelopment-area home where winters frosted the windows. “What kept me going was that I would become a comedian,” he said. “As a famous entertainer, I could repay my debts.” Fellow guest Moon Se-yoon admitted he was stunned: “I thought you debuted late because you were comfortable.”
