Actor Im Chae-moo revealed an episode on "The Bosses' Ears Are Donkey Ears" in which a "problematic" customer visited Duriland, which he opened after taking on 19 billion won in debt, drawing sympathy.
On the 19th, KBS 2TV variety show The Bosses' Ears Are Donkey Ears (abbreviated as Donkey Ears) aired with Im Chae-moo appearing as the new boss. He appeared on Donkey Ears as a veteran actor and the 35-year CEO of the amusement park Duriland.
Duriland is a roughly 300-pyeong amusement park that Im Chae-moo founded in Jangheung-myeon, Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, around 1990. Im Chae-moo had about 4 billion won in debt when he established Duriland, but severe financial difficulties forced it to close in 2017. Three years later, in 2020, he sold a 67-pyeong mansion in Yeouido and took on 19 billion won in debt again to remodel and reopen the park, which he is operating now.
During the period when he took on massive debt, Im Chae-moo and his wife even slept in toilets to get by. Still, he kept Duriland because he would not give up his conviction to bring joy to young children.
A former marine, Im Chae-moo paid attention to Duriland's cleanliness like an inspector did when he was in the military. He scolded staff, saying "there must not be dust for the kids," and carefully wiped the floor with his bare hands, among other meticulous efforts.
Im Chae-moo's daughter, who works with him at Duriland, acknowledged her father's passion but worried about the losses. She said, "We allow re-entry and outside food, but sales haven't increased," and added, "Please at least restrict outside food. The amount of discarded food waste is considerable," expressing concern.
But Im Chae-moo drew a line, saying, "Lifting that restriction won't suddenly increase sales. To sell food ourselves we'd have to hire staff again and deal with customer complaints, which would be more stressful and increase labor costs." He also handed out snacks to groups of visiting children. His daughter sighed and said, "If dad insists on giving everything to customers, it makes it hard for us to operate," attracting attention.
Im Chae-moo endured the losses, but "problematic" customers were hard to bear. He said, "Everything else is fine, but it's the worst when troublesome customers come," and recounted, "Just two or three weeks ago a young couple had fun and left, then demanded a refund, saying, 'How can you charge money for this?' We gave the refund, but instead of leaving they stood at the entrance blocking everyone, saying, 'Don't let people play here, it's a dirty place.' They blocked the entrance for three hours and left. My wife stood there with her head bowed and couldn't say anything, and it broke my heart."
Im Chae-moo's wife shed tears over unfair rumors. She said, "People see the broadcast and, hearing we're poor, ask how the amusement park land is an asset and how much it's worth. We planned without thinking about money, but people come and call the price high and say on broadcasts that we're poor. They don't understand my husband's heart, and every time I hear that it hurts so much," wiping her tears and adding to the sadness.
[Photo] Provided by KBS.
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