Broadcaster Ro Hong-chul opened up about a failed real estate investment.
On the 15th, a video titled "Ro Hong-chul surprised by these days' young people's realistic monthly rent living" was uploaded to Ro Hong-chul's YouTube channel.
That day Ro Hong-chul held a housewarming party on the day the producer in charge moved. While eating jjajangmyeon together, he shared his experiences living alone. When asked, "I heard you paid the jeonse deposit at such a young age. Wasn't that when you were 24 or 25?" Ro Hong-chul said, "It's surprising. I worked hard at business," which surprised listeners.
He continued, "Then suddenly I started appearing on broadcasts, so I worked even harder and bought a Hyundai apartment in Apgujeong. It was in the 30-pyeong range. It wasn't as expensive as now. I lived there and was beaten once. I was attacked," he revealed.
The producer asked, "It was really terrible, right? But you smiled at the attacker and asked if you were okay, didn't you?" Ro Hong-chul said, "There was no reason for me to be beaten," and added, "At the time I couldn't think the attacker was mentally ill; I thought there must have been some misunderstanding. He beat me as if he was going to kill me. I was bleeding profusely. Later the police came and things calmed down and people around me told me to move," he recounted the situation at the time.
He said he was told, "This is serious, move to a place with better security," and after wondering where to go he worked hard again and simply bought the neighboring, larger unit in the same Hyundai apartment complex, he said.
He went on, "That house later..." The producer asked, "Did it become a large sum later?" and Ro Hong-chul expressed regret, saying, "It was so unfortunate." He sold it before housing prices rose like now.
Ro Hong-chul said, "Living there, whenever I bought something it would drop in value. Back then I thought I bought it for very cheap and well, but about 400 million won I spent fell in value. So actually I told my parents I'd buy them this house: you live on the 12th floor and I'll live on the 11th floor and let's do it together. But my parents had made friends in the apartment where they were living. My mother has a similar personality, you know. Because it's my mother she became the neighborhood women's association president and there was an uproar. They traveled together and all that. They really didn't want me to buy this house (the Hyundai apartment) for them. And my father consistently lost money, you know. He lost money in stocks and lost everything. He's very frugal but saved and gave a lot back to society. So he doesn't spend now. He said if I can't earn more let's lock it up, so I went a lot to free places like Namsan Library. My father thought that if we moved to Apgujeong-dong you wouldn't be able to walk to Namsan Library. So both my father and mother opposed it," he said.
He added, "But thinking back, if I had bought only that house then... Back then our house dropped to about 1.8 billion won, but now it's over 9 billion won. It was a 53-pyeong royal floor," he said, conveying a bittersweet reality that evoked sympathy.
Ro Hong-chul said, "And my apartment was old, right? I almost rebuilt it with the money I worked hard for. I stripped everything. But it was so old and right next to the Han River so there was draftiness and it was so severe it was very cold. In winter I would sleep at lodging places. It was too cold. Hyundai apartments have central heating. But because it was so cold, all the furniture would suffer. Some contractor developed a device. For people like us who heat room by room, if that machine is installed it draws from others. If I take that heat, wouldn't the other household get less? The heat that would go to the neighboring house would be concentrated on me. But I didn't install it in case it caused problems. Later I saw everyone installed it. They were all drawing heat. I realized that," he said, delivering a twist that brought laughter.
He said, "When I asked, 'Aren't you cold?' they said, 'I'll only tell Ro Hong-chul.' But everyone I met except me had it installed. They were all drawing heat. It wasn't just a bit of a drop; even if I had paid less I might not have known, but I paid more than any other house and completely renovated it. They tore up the entire floor and even redid the boiler. But what can you do—it's my business," he lamented.
[photo] Ro Hong-chul YouTube
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