Former baseball player Kim Byung-hyun said he closed 11 shops after entering the restaurant business.
On the 9th, SBS variety show "Same Bed, Different Dreams 2: You Are My Destiny" released a pre-release video titled "Serial entrepreneur Kim Byung-hyun, the story of how a famous burger shop came to close (ft. wife revealed for the first time)."
In the video, Kim Byung-hyun candidly recounted his illustrious career as a baseball player and his continued attempts at running his own businesses after retirement. Kim is the first Asian player to win the World Series with a team in Major League Baseball's National League. During his playing days, he earned 23.7 billion won in salary.
Asked about his startup history, Kim said, "In 2004, while I was playing in the United States, I ran a sushi restaurant in San Diego," and added, "After returning to Korea, I ran a steakhouse, a ramen shop, a Thai restaurant, and a burger place."
However, he said the business did not go smoothly. "I'm still running the sushi restaurant with a partner and expanded to a third location, but we closed two," he explained. He went on to say the steakhouse closed due to the fallout from the "mad cow disease incident," and the ramen shop shut down amid the atmosphere of the "boycott Japan" movement. He also said the burger place opened inside the Kia Tigers' stadium closed as games were played without spectators due to COVID-19.
Kim added, "Back then, the losses were beyond words. Just the number of shops we closed was 11." When asked about his wife's reaction, he said, "My wife doesn't really know much about these things."
The video also features Kim's wife, Han Kyung-min. Han said, "I wondered if I was really ashamed," and added, "I barely met some of his acquaintances over the 15 years. We even said we wouldn't have a wedding," hinting at their backstory.
Meanwhile, Kim Byung-hyun married former musical actor Han Kyung-min in 2010, and they have three children.