Cartoonist-turned-broadcaster Kian84 (left), who appears on singer Sean's (right) YouTube channel. /Courtesy of YouTube

Webtoon artist and TV personality Kian84 said he recovered his health through running, noting a difficult period in the past with panic disorder and alcohol dependence.

18th, he appeared in a video released on Sean's YouTube channel "With Sean" and explained why he started running, saying, "Around 31, the day I began serializing the webtoon 'The King of Return to School,' panic disorder hit. I went to several hospitals, tried medication, and received counseling, but nothing worked. What the hospitals commonly said was, in the end, exercise."

He added, "Because of the nature of my job, I sit in front of a computer all day, and I thought, 'At this rate I'm going to die.' Other workouts require carving out time, but with running I could head out quickly, so I ran 5 to 7 kilometers as a habit."

Cartoonist-turned-broadcaster Kian84 (left), who says he recovered his health through running after appearing on singer Sean's (right) YouTube channel. /Courtesy of YouTube

Kian84 said his panic disorder led to alcohol dependence. "As I see it, it was about dependence on (alcohol). If I didn't drink, I couldn't sleep, so I drank half a bottle of whiskey a day. That's a bottle in two days, and nearly more than three bottles a week," he said, adding, "What was striking was that as my running distance increased, my drinking decreased."

He also said, "In the past I only got dopamine from drinking sessions, but now my satisfaction has risen through running. My life used to be a 60, and now it's an 80. I'll probably run until I die. I used to think a cartoonist needed a dark side, so I considered alcohol and cigarettes okay, but when I felt like I might actually die, I thought, 'I need to live healthily.' Going forward, I'll keep running at least two to three times a week."

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