'Suspected ties to organized crime' forced Cho Sae-ho to leave 2 Days & 1 Night, but he appeared on the broadcast without being edited out.
The KBS2 2 Days & 1 Night season 4 that aired on the 21st was presented as a "hardship settlement Race" special. Since the broadcast came immediately after the 2025 KBS Entertainment Awards, the members who gathered in Sacheon, Gyeongsangnam-do for the opening were busy talking about the Entertainment Awards.
Moon Se-yoon teased, mentioning the special stage, saying "Congratulations, Jong-min hyung. Does 'Sodapop' dance that well?", and Lee Jun also said, "I liked it?" Cho Sae-ho also expressed admiration, saying "Hyung, you're really amazing, really." Moon Se-yoon said, "That afterglow is still lingering, so please do it a little," and Kim Jong-min showed clumsy moves that drew laughter. The production team added captions explaining, "Today is two weeks before the Entertainment Awards filming" and "Hasn't learned the choreography yet." Along with this, footage of Kim Jong-min, who had safely finished the stage the previous day, appeared as archive footage, drawing attention.
The production team said, "(The broadcast day is) the day after the Entertainment Awards. Just for your information, Kim Jong-min is a nominee for the grand prize," and Kim Jong-min admitted, "I've been rising almost every year." Moon Se-yoon predicted the grand prize, saying, "Was 2016 the last year for an individual grand prize? The masters receive it once every 10 years. It feels like that." But in reality Kim Jong-min was left with the 'variety entertainer of the year' award rather than the grand prize, which caused disappointment.
At that time Cho Sae-ho said, "The Entertainment Awards are one thing, but I'm curious about the drama my fellow recruit is in," and mentioned the drama that Lee Jun appears in, Love: Track - One Star's Love. Lee Jun promoted his work, saying, "It's a realistic star-rated love story between a man and a woman. It's a story about a five-star man going on a blind date with a one-star woman. There are ratings from five to one, and I'm the five-star man."
Later the production team explained the "year-end hardship settlement Race." The production team said, "You were hungry this year, couldn't eat, and suffered from outdoor sleeping, right? We'll settle that hardship all at once today," and disclosed the number of dinners and outdoor sleeps this year. Failures to obtain dinner tied for first place with seven each between Yoo Seon-ho and Moon Se-yoon, and Kim Jong-min overwhelmingly ranked first with 12 outdoor sleeps. Having slept outdoors for half of the total 24 episodes, Kim Jong-min choked up and, drawing laughter, said, "My mouth will get stuck! Let me sleep inside a bit!"
The counts were calculated at 1,000 won per occurrence and refunded to the members. Accordingly, Kim Jong-min received 18,000 won, Moon Se-yoon 17,000 won, Lee Jun 16,000 won, Cho Sae-ho 12,000 won, Yoo Seon-ho 11,000 won, and DinDin 9,000 won. The Race was held three-on-three, and the production team warned, "A harsh punishment awaits at the end of the journey. We'll have a winter plunge," shocking everyone.
Teams were divided into Kim Jong-min, Yoo Seon-ho and Lee Jun for Team Kim Jong-min, and Cho Sae-ho, Moon Se-yoon and DinDin for the GodinGamrae team. In the first game for a 10,000-won refund, after a fierce tie the winner was decided by a coin toss, ending in a victory for Team Kim Jong-min. Next, Team Kim Jong-min played 'physical chamchamcham' and GodinGamrae played 'brainy brain split' as they finished lunch, and according to the production team's scheme Yoo Seon-ho and Moon Se-yoon, who picked up the 'oyster' envelope, were eliminated and left disappointed.
The two were suddenly put to work picking oysters, and the remaining survivors continued the game at the Goseong dinosaur museum. After a fierce contest, Team Kim Jong-min won the dinosaur quiz, but the tide turned at once after DinDin and Cho Sae-ho's psychological tactics led them to exchange refund money, bringing laughter. Meanwhile, next week's teaser showed members performing an escape mission within a 15-minute time limit, increasing curiosity.
In particular, this day's broadcast drew attention as footage of Cho Sae-ho, who had left the program over 'suspected ties to organized crime,' appeared without editing. Recently a complainer claimed that Cho Sae-ho had ties with a gang boss accused of operating an illegal gambling site and laundering money. He alleged that Cho Sae-ho received expensive gifts or helped promote franchises run by the organized crime group. At the time Cho Sae-ho's side dismissed the claims as baseless, saying they were merely acquaintances and denying any receipt of money or goods, and hinted at legal action against the complainer, but separately had decided to leave programs he was appearing on, such as 2 Days & 1 Night and You Quiz on the Block.
Later You Quiz on the Block largely edited Cho Sae-ho out of existing footage, but 2 Days & 1 Night, due to the nature of the program, is airing with Cho Sae-ho unedited. Accordingly, Cho Sae-ho is also expected to appear unedited in next week's episode, which was filmed the same day. However, since he had already left the program, Cho Sae-ho did not attend the 2025 KBS Entertainment Awards, which were broadcast live on the 20th. That day Moon Se-yoon from 2 Days & 1 Night served as the awards' MC, and Kim Jong-min, Lee Jun, Yoo Seon-ho and Moon Se-yoon won the variety entertainer of the year, best performer, excellence award and best entertainer award respectively, but there was no mention of Cho Sae-ho.
[Photo] OSEN DB, KBS2
[OSEN]