Actor Im Chae-moo revealed on "Sadanggwi" that he even slept in a restroom while paying off a 19 billion won loan for Dooly Land.
On the 19th, KBS 2TV variety show Sadangnim gwi neun dangnagi gwi (aka Sadanggwi) aired with Im Chae-moo appearing as the new boss. As a veteran actor and the 35-year CEO of the amusement park Dooly Land, he visited Sadanggwi.
This was not Im Chae-moo's first appearance on Sadanggwi. Earlier, comedian Park Myung-soo, another Sadanggwi member, visited Dooly Land and drew attention. Dooly Land is a 300-pyeong amusement park Im Chae-moo established around 1990 in Jangheung-myeon, Yangju, Gyeonggi Province. It closed in 2017 due to severe financial difficulties but reopened in 2020 and is operating again.
He said he had 4 billion won in debt when he founded it, but remodeling increased the debt to 19 billion won, drawing sympathy. On Sadanggwi he joked, "Fortunately I paid off a lot of the debt. Now the remaining debt is less than 10 billion won. But people keep calling it 'debt liability' so it feels unfair."
The Sadanggwi members were embarrassed, asking, "Is it correct to say '10 billion won'?," but Im Chae-moo said with a kind smile, "After meeting Park Myung-soo and having people see Sadanggwi, we received a lot of support."
In a VCR, Im Chae-moo recalled difficult times with his wife. He actually sold a 67-pyeong mansion in Yeouido where they had been living to reopen Dooly Land. As a result, he and his wife even lived sleeping in a restroom, which drew sympathy.
Regarding this, Im Chae-moo remembered, "Life in Yeouido was good. In the 67-pyeong mansion. But once I started this (Dooly Land) there was nowhere to go. We couldn't live off someone else." His wife also spoke of the time they lived with two makeshift beds in an unused restroom at Dooly Land and even cooked meals in the restroom, saying, "Because he truly loved the children, I trusted my husband's heart and came along."
Im Chae-moo's daughter, who works at Dooly Land with her father, reacted differently. She said, "I was shocked by the restroom sleeping. I hated it. I told him every day. I said, 'Don't do Dooly Land,'" but sighed at her father's passion that she still couldn't stop. Im Chae-moo explained the reason he endured sleeping without asking his children for help: "I didn't want to be indebted to others. Still, with my wife lying next to me, I never thought of it as a restroom."
Above all, Im Chae-moo added, "Time has passed like this. Things that have passed are forgotten yet become memories. Once it's past it's beautiful and happy. I have lived a turbulent life. But even if I were told to live that way again, I think I would."
[Photo] Provided by KBS.
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