Appearing as a guest on the YouTube channel ‘Sae-rop-ge Ha-so-seo’ in a video posted on the 13th, Kim Yong-man shared, “After going through a certain incident, I thought I wouldn’t be able to be active for at least 5 years, and possibly up to 10 years.”
Kim Yong-man was put on trial in 2013 on charges of illegal internet gambling. Reflecting on that time, he honestly confessed, “I felt that I might not be able to make a comeback.”
He continued, “I called my mother because I wanted to tell her myself before she saw it in the news.” He added, “I told her I’d have to take a break from work for a while, and while I expected her to be very angry, she was surprisingly calm.”
He also received worry and support from colleagues in the entertainment industry, including Kim Won-hee. Kim Yong-man recalled, “Kim Won-hee called me and said, ‘You’ve lived a good life. As soon as the news broke, about 100 people started praying for you.'” He added, “A few days later, she suggested I go to Haiti to clear my head. The volunteer work I did then had a huge impact on my life.”
Meanwhile, in 2013, Kim Yong-man was sentenced to 8 months in prison, suspended for 2 years, for habitual gambling totaling 1.3 billion won over three years through illegal sports gambling sites. At the time, he was placed on the appearance ban list for broadcasters like KBS and stopped all broadcasting activities for two years.
He later returned to broadcasting through cable and general programming channels, and in 2016, the appearance bans from MBC, KBS, and EBS were lifted. That same year, he was evaluated to have successfully made a comeback by driving viewership ratings with his unique variety sense on JTBC’s ‘Package World Tour – Mungchyeoya Tteunda’.
