Lee Soo-kyung Just Confessed That Kim Jong-kook Is Family

Nobody in the studio saw it coming. On March 26, 2026, actress Lee Soo-kyung casually dropped a revelation on KBS 2TV's popular variety show "Rooftop House Problem Children" (옥탑방의 문제아들) that sent both the hosts and viewers into immediate reaction mode: she and veteran singer Kim Jong-kook are actually related. The moment became one of the most talked-about entertainment surprises of the week.

Lee Soo-kyung had appeared on the show alongside her co-star Park Sung-woong to promote their new drama "Simwoumyeon Yeonliri" (심우면 연리리), which premiered on KBS 2TV the same evening at 9:50 PM. What audiences did not expect was that the promotional visit would deliver several memorable confessions — not just about the new drama.

The Kim Jong-kook Connection Nobody Knew About

The revelation came when the conversation turned to connections between celebrities. Lee Soo-kyung quietly admitted that Kim Jong-kook — the powerhouse singer and longtime Running Man cast member — is her distant relative. More specifically, she described him as being on her "uncle's side, a cousin" (고모부네 사촌). She even mentioned the family name directly, referring to a "Yoon-jeong's family" to confirm the connection.

Kim Jong-kook, clearly caught off guard, could only respond: "Is that me?" When Lee Soo-kyung confirmed it, the singer laughed and said, "So we're actually pretty close then." The exchange delighted the studio audience, and clips of the moment quickly spread on social media. Running Man fans in particular found the revelation amusing — Kim Jong-kook has been on the show for over a decade, and this was news to everyone, apparently including him.

Lee Soo-kyung, who has built a reputation as one of the most naturally charming actresses of her generation, seemed almost unbothered by the reveal. "I've known for a while," she said, with the nonchalance of someone who clearly did not realize how surprising the information would be to everyone else in the room.

150 Bottles of Wine and a $70,000 Investment

The Kim Jong-kook reveal was just the beginning. As the conversation continued, Lee Soo-kyung disclosed another surprising side of her off-camera life: she is an avid wine and spirits collector. At her home, she keeps a dedicated storage space containing between 120 and 150 bottles of wine and alcohol — a collection she has built steadily over the years.

Among those bottles is one that has become something of a legend in entertainment circles. She purchased a bottle for approximately 6 million Korean won (roughly $4,300) several years ago. That same bottle is now estimated to be worth close to 100 million won — nearly $70,000 — thanks to the wine's rarity and aging value. Lee Soo-kyung's plan? "I'll open it in about 20 years."

Her passion for wine has earned her the nickname "Lee Alcohol Kyung" (이술경) within the Korean entertainment industry. When her co-star Park Sung-woong joked that her home sounds like it has its own dedicated wine bar, Lee Soo-kyung confirmed the description without any protest.

Park Sung-woong Opens Up About Villain Role Trauma

While Lee Soo-kyung dominated the evening's biggest moments, her co-star Park Sung-woong delivered arguably the most emotionally resonant confession of the night. The actor — best known internationally for his chilling villain portrayal of "Jung Chung" in the 2013 crime thriller New World — revealed that years of playing deeply dark characters have taken a significant psychological toll.

"The number of people I've harmed on screen is more than a truck-full," he said, with a wry laugh that quickly gave way to something more serious. At a certain point during an especially intense villain role, Park Sung-woong said he began to worry that the darkness was bleeding into his real life. "I was afraid of what I might actually do," he admitted. His response was to ask his wife to remove every knife from their home.

More significantly, Park Sung-woong voluntarily sought psychiatric help — a decision he described without embarrassment. "I went to therapy on my own, not because someone told me to," he said. The revelation struck a chord with viewers, prompting widespread discussion about the mental health challenges faced by actors who specialize in morally complex or violent characters.

There is an irony in the fact that Park Sung-woong is now best known to younger audiences not as a threat but as a mentor figure. Fans in their 20s and 30s who grew up watching New World affectionately call him "Junggu hyung" — a term of endearment that signals respect and familiarity rather than fear. "Things have changed a lot," he noted with visible amusement.

A New Chapter: "Simwoumyeon Yeonliri"

All of this came on the eve of an important premiere. "Simwoumyeon Yeonliri" — which can be roughly translated as "If You Dream, Our Love Connects" — marks a notable pairing: Park Sung-woong and Lee Soo-kyung play a married couple, bringing very different energies to the domestic drama format. Park Sung-woong plays a charismatic company executive navigating complex personal relationships, while Lee Soo-kyung portrays a woman with hidden depths and sharp emotional intelligence.

For both actors, the timing of the variety show appearance was clearly strategic. But the combination of genuine revelations — family secrets, extraordinary wine investments, and raw psychological confessions — made it feel less like a promotional appearance and more like a genuine window into their lives.

Viewers online noted that the episode had something for everyone: the lighthearted surprise of the Kim Jong-kook family connection, the fascinating world of celebrity wine investment, and the surprisingly candid discussion of mental health in the acting profession. By the time the episode aired, anticipation for the drama itself had reached a noticeably higher pitch.

Fan and Public Reaction

The Lee Soo-kyung and Kim Jong-kook revelation was trending on Korean search engines within hours of the broadcast. Running Man fans immediately began combing through old episodes looking for any hint of the connection, while others found humor in the idea of Kim Jong-kook being anyone's distant cousin without knowing it himself.

Park Sung-woong's mental health confession received a different kind of attention — largely positive. Korean entertainment fans, who have increasingly advocated for more open conversation about the psychological demands placed on actors, praised his willingness to speak plainly about the experience. Several mental health organizations shared clips of his comments as an example of the kind of candid discussion they hope to see more of in the public sphere.

Lee Soo-kyung's wine collection, meanwhile, generated its own wave of interest — part admiration, part disbelief. The image of a young actress sitting on a bottle worth nearly $70,000 while casually planning to wait two more decades to open it was, for many fans, the most unexpectedly relatable moment of the whole episode. "She's playing the long game," one commenter wrote, "in every possible sense."