Comedian Heo Kyung Hwan has opened up about a painful chapter in his life, revealing that he once fell victim to a business partner's fraud.
Heo shared his story on the December 31 episode of tvN’s talk show 'You Quiz on the Block,' where he reflected on his chicken breast business and the challenges he faced along the way.
The venture, he explained, began as an instinctive attempt to secure his future. At the time, Heo was appearing on comedy programs such as Bongsunga School and found himself boiling chicken breast after workouts when a sudden realization hit him. He said, “I thought to myself, ‘What if I can’t do comedy for much longer?’”
While his fellow comedians were steadily building strong foundations, Heo admitted he was relying heavily on catchphrases. “I wondered how I could make a good living in the long run,” he recalled.
He noticed that there were not many chicken breast brands on the market at the time. “I thought that if I just started, I could at least rank fifth or sixth,” he said. “Dieting is something people do for life, isn’t it?”
Heo personally visited factories, developed flavors himself, and even tested the products on fellow comedians. The effort paid off, eventually leading him to become the CEO of a company with annual sales of 300 billion KRW (207.8 million USD).
However, his success was soon overshadowed by betrayal. A partner he had gone into business with deceived him, leading to massive financial losses.
“I thought that since I was busy with broadcasting, things would be taken care of properly,” Heo explained. “I trusted him too much. I should have checked everything more carefully, but during that time, he started having other intentions.”
He recalled receiving a phone call during a comedian’s golf gathering and rushing to the company, where he was confronted by people demanding unpaid money.
“I withdrew cash from the bank and handed it out little by little, telling them I would pay them no matter what,” Heo said. “I asked them to trust me because I was someone who appeared on television. The amount was between 2.7 billion KRW (1.9 million USD) and 3 billion KRW (2.1 million USD).”
The money, which should have been paid to factories, had been taken by his business partner, who fled. Heo ultimately took full responsibility for the debt and worked relentlessly to repay it in full.
MC Yoo Jae Suk praised Heo’s integrity, saying, “Because you took responsibility yourself, good things are coming your way again now.”
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