Kim Gu-ra: Comedian Kim Jeong-ryeol surpasses Lee Gyeong-gyu in wealth despite low profile — here's how

Broadcaster Kim Gu-ra has drawn attention by revealing that comedian Kim Jeong-ryeol has become a real estate millionaire — surpassing even Lee Gyeong-gyu in wealth — despite largely stepping back from the spotlight. The secret, Kim said, was a frugal lifestyle and buying land with the money he saved.

A video titled "Can we save Lee Seon-min's home value, which is inversely proportional to his popularity?" was posted Friday on the YouTube channel "GreeGura."

Comedian Lee Seon-min appeared in the video, and Kim Gu-ra introduced him as "one of the hottest entertainers in the first half of this year."

Kim said that if Lee had made this kind of impact 10 years ago, he would have been in demand across broadcast networks and could have expected major awards in the second half of the year. "From 'Infinite Challenge' on, back in 2008 and 2009, every broadcaster had about 10 variety shows running," he said.

He added that the landscape has changed significantly. "These days, if you ask someone like Gwak Beom or this guy how many programs they're doing, they say they're running seven or eight YouTube channels. Back in the day, they would have been doing so much more. One upside of today's environment is that short-form content like Shorts makes it easier to reach younger audiences," he said.

Kim Gu-ra said "it's not as easy to make money in broadcasting today as it used to be."

Lee Seon-min said, "For example, I've thought that if my colleagues — the Shortbox and Pisik University guys — had broken through around the time of sunbae Kim Jun-hyeon, about 10 years ago, they might be earning 10 times more than they are now."

Kim Gu-ra said in response, "Either way, it's a relief that income has grown a lot even in these tough times. As you know, you have to put the money you earn to work, and that's not easy."

Kim Gu-ra then revealed that comedian Kim Jeong-ryeol has become enormously wealthy.

"Investment is extremely important," Kim said. "There's a big difference in wealth later in life between someone who takes an interest in investing from a young age and someone who just thinks, 'I'll keep working' or 'I'm an artist.' To give just one more example — there's our sunbae Kim Jeong-ryeol of 'Sungguridangdang' fame. He's been largely out of the public eye for a long time, but he was always very frugal with his spending, and he owned a building in Gangnam. He moved that investment around a few times, and now he's become a real estate millionaire."

Kim added that Kim Jeong-ryeol's colleagues say his assets now exceed those of fellow veteran comedian Lee Gyeong-gyu. "Back when that sunbae was working nights, he lived on bread and milk, worked hard, saved every penny, and used that money to buy land — that's how he became truly wealthy," he said.