Former baseball player Yang Jun-hyuk revealed his current situation by talking about his past business failures.
On the 31st, KBS 2TV's entertainment program 'The Boss's Ears are Donkey Ears' (hereinafter referred to as 'Sa-dang-gyi') aired its 321st episode. In this episode, Chef Jeong Ho-young visited Pohang to meet Yang Jun-hyuk, where they discussed various topics related to business.
On that day, Jeong Ho-young visited a yellowtail fish farm located in Guiyangpo, Pohang. He remarked, "I came to contract in advance because it's expensive in winter," adding, "As a star chef, even though I don't go far, it took me five hours to visit."
The owner of the fish farm was former baseball player Yang Jun-hyuk. He had been operating the farm, which spans approximately 10,000 square meters, for 20 years. He proudly stated, "I raise the yellowtail as if it were my own child, really valuably and meticulously," and noted, "The annual revenue of the farm is about 3 billion won."
Yang Jun-hyuk explained, "I pour everything I have into operating this farm," and said, "I only sleep for about three hours and work." He added, "These days, the yellowtail has become a 'golden yellowtail,'" mentioning that the current market price for one yellowtail is about 70,000 to 80,000 won.
Jeong Ho-young revealed, "I heard that the big brother's yellowtail has a good reputation, so I came here from Seoul." He continued, "Due to the intense heat this summer, the sea temperature rose, and not much yellowtail was caught," and asked, "I heard the price has gone up 2 to 3 times compared to last year; could you please make it a bit cheaper?"
Yang Jun-hyuk expressed confidence, stating, "We don't give our yellowtail to just anyone," and added, "These days, since I have a baby, I wake up every morning at 2:30 a.m. to participate in the auction." He also emphasized, "The feed cost needed for yellowtail farming is 2 million won a day."
Yang Jun-hyuk mentioned that he had previously attempted to farm black porgy, rockfish, and abalone but faced failures with all of them. He almost lost the money he earned as a player. He lamented, "When I stocked the farm with juveniles, I added 2 million at once," and said, "If I had bought a building in Seoul, I would have had a building bigger than Seo Jang-hoon."
He reflected, "I lost 5 billion won and now I need to earn 10 billion won," and recalled, "I also did steaks and sashimi (in business), as well as bean soup and a sports pub." However, the sports pub had to close down immediately after COVID-19 hit. Jeong Ho-young lamented, "I also lost 500 million won because of COVID-19."
Yang Jun-hyuk confessed, "About 500 million won is just acceptable," adding, "I was losing at least 30 to 40 million won a month." Nevertheless, he expressed his affection, stating, "Now that my wife has a baby and is also managing the café, I feel both sorry and grateful."