Former KBS announcer Kim Jae-won, who left the network, expressed his gratitude to the viewers.
On the 26th, a video titled "It's okay not to be the main character: Kim Jae-won's unwavering sincerity" was released on the YouTube channel "Lee Hye-sung's 1% Book Club."
In the video, Lee Hye-sung explained, "Today, I have a really special person with me. He has received a lot of love while opening the mornings of Korea for over 10 years. I am honored to have the author of 'Mother's face,' announcer Kim Jae-won." Lee Hye-sung also stated, "This is the first time I am filming with someone I have seen at work. It gives special meaning to have a senior with me like this," and Kim Jae-won said, "As announcers, unless we become partners, we don't have many opportunities to work with seniors and juniors together, so sitting down like this for an interview is something that is unfamiliar and uncomfortable for juniors. However, I have faith that Lee Hye-sung will not be nervous at all and show her abilities well."
Lee Hye-sung mentioned that Kim Jae-won said he only focused on one well. Kim Jae-won explained, "My daily routine involves waking up at 4:40 a.m., leaving home at 5:20 a.m., and arriving at the company just after 6 a.m. Then, I review the day's script, collect my thoughts, put on makeup, do my hair, rehearse, and go live. After the live broadcast, I have tea time, exchange farewells, and then go back to the office to have a meeting for about an hour for the next day. Now that routine has collapsed. I haven't fully adapted to a free lifestyle."
Kim Jae-won, who walked the Mapo Bridge to work every day, said, "For me, the Mapo Bridge is a well of thoughts, a place where I wash my heart. Walking to work is to awaken my body, mind, and spirit. I can wake up as late as 6:40 a.m. and still be ready for the 8:25 a.m. live broadcast. However, it's not easy to produce a high-quality broadcast while greeting guests without having loosened my voice or woken up my mind and heart. The way to maximize my vitality is to do that."
He continued, "I thought of 'Morning Yard' as a performance. Unlike a musical or play where you can practice for 3 to 6 months with the performers, I have to have a conversation with someone I see for the first time that day while delivering a magnificent 63-minute performance. Of course, the overall conductor is the producer, but it is my role to manage the given time well. Other recorded programs go through an editing process, but the final editor of a live broadcast is not the producer but the MC. In that sense, with the mindset of 'thousands of cloths' my 63 minutes of hosting must be without any editing scars. To acquire that flow, I needed to wake up at 4:40 a.m."
Even when anger arises, Kim Jae-won mentioned that he did not release it on the target but let it flow on the Mapo Bridge. He said, "If the Han River water on the Mapo Bridge is a well of thoughts in the morning, it serves as a time to organize all the day's events when leaving work. Upsetting and frustrating occurrences are sent away like anger by flushing them down the Han River bridge. When I get hurt or upset by someone, directly releasing it on them as a means of resolving misunderstandings leads to secondary damage. In that sense, if I can manage my emotions to some extent, I believe it's right to handle it alone. This is how I organize my feelings before going home—making my home a resting place and a paradise spent with family. If I go in with trash-like feelings, my home will turn into a junkyard. With that in mind, my intention was to organize everything before going home."
Kim Jae-won, who used the term "traveling in daily life," said, "If I were to define a journey, it is the process of leaving home and returning home. Thus, deriving the result of liking home anew is a journey. If it is a journey, I should at least capture the surrounding scenery in my eyes, so I walk and take in the sky and the seasonal changes I see. Looking at it this way, each day may seem like a dull puzzle piece, but from a travel perspective, I discover something new each day. That becomes a small joy in my life."
Kim Jae-won, who concluded his more than 30-year career as an announcer and is making a new start, said, "To put it nicely, I completed it; to put it simply, I liquidated it. Being able to work in the job I wanted most, the job I love and do best, in one place for 30 years and six months is a great blessing. When deciding to leave, numerous complex emotions arose, but upon actually leaving, I felt the viewers' sorrow and encouragement, wondering, 'Is it okay for me to be loved this much?' I was given the role of KBS announcer, and I think the 12 years spent as the host of 'Morning Yard' qualified me to receive this love, making me even more emotional."
He added, "I thought I would live my life as a stone and soil, but I became an announcer. I thought I would just live as an ordinary announcer, but I became a host of 'Morning Yard,' and being able to broadcast until my retirement day was a great honor. In reality, announcers are professionals who breathe with the viewers. Because I breathed with those people, I could receive so much love. I love my life, my job, and my workplace."
In response, Lee Hye-sung said, "Not every program's MC is loved equally. When I think back to my time at KBS, I guess I did not deeply consider what it meant to be an announcer. I focused more on personal greed and success rather than thinking about what value I could provide to people. Only now, I find myself thinking more fiercely about the identity of an announcer. I regret not seeking advice or counsel from my seniors back then," to which Kim Jae-won comforted her by saying, "That is the mindset that newcomers should have in any job or workplace. No one has worked harder than they have."
Kim Jae-won, who has walked a humble path, said, "I was not a famous broadcaster, nor a prominent one. The programs I handled were educational programs that exist like air. While these series of programs are familiar to us, the MC often does not stand out as much as the guests do. I did not want to become famous, nor did I become so. If an adjective is to be attached before my name, it would be something like steady and unwavering. The day I retired, I received the most attention, but I think it was a small tribute for having continued broadcasting for 30 years and six months and maintaining that position."
Lee Hye-sung asked Kim Jae-won, who referred to it as the "joy of being a bystander," about why that was so. Kim Jae-won responded, "I do not want to be the main character, the chairperson, the representative, or the boss. I excel as a staff-type advisor, but I never thought the applause from the audience mothers or viewers was mine when I was regularly on 'Morning Yard.' I play the role of helping the guests unfold their life stories, and when I am moved and applaud, that applause belongs to the guest. I have spent about 3,200 mornings sharing the joy of being a bystander," adding, "There is no greater joy than the joy of a bystander. I lived a life satisfied being a baby's breath that makes a rose bloom rather than becoming the rose itself."
Kim Jae-won, who said he volunteered to read books for the visually impaired, noted, "Watching that episode reminded me of the 'underwater broadcasting' I did as an announcer. While doing that, I felt embarrassed and thought it was annoying. I never heard or reflected on what significance the work I am doing has. Thus, I thought that it was something I had to do when others didn't. After hearing about Kim Jae-won's volunteering, I can now see that significance clearly."
Kim Jae-won expressed, "Announcers also record messages like, 'Next, a program will air,' but they find it annoying. When having meals with elders from the visually impaired organization, they said that KBS is the only place that still has 'Next.' That sound is needed for the visually impaired. Most channels only broadcast with screens showing 'NEXT,' not explaining what it means. For those who don't understand, calling it 'NEXT' instead of 'next' can feel quite violent." Lee Hye-sung empathized, "One of the gifts that KBS gave was allowing us to take away experiences and insights that we could not have felt from other broadcasting stations."
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