On “Recent Olympics,” Kim Sung-soo expressed his affection for the daughter he raised alone after the passing of his wife.
On the 14th, the YouTube channel “Recent Olympics” showcased the current status of Cool’s Kim Sung-soo. He reminisced about his prime days, saying, “We dominated events by the beach. There was never a day when our skin was white.”
He also mentioned being well-paid during that time. Kim Sung-soo reflected with regret, “I earned quite a bit. If only I had saved the money well. Back then, an apartment in Hyundai was worth around a hundred million won. If I had bought it then, now…”
Kim Sung-soo shared, “When I earned a lot, sometimes I received cash. My wallet was so stuffed with money that it wouldn’t fold and the money would pop out when I sat. I’m a bit naive and easily persuaded, so I did a lot of good for others. In simple terms, the first person who saw my money got it. Many people would ask for it, and I couldn’t refuse. I lost a lot to investment scams.”
One such scam involved a supercar. Kim Sung-soo explained, “A dealer said, ‘This car is one of a few in the world. Give me 90 million won now, and I’ll register the car under your name,’ but he took 90 million won from ten people for that single car and then fled to China. The car wasn’t even his.”
He continued, “Starting from that, I was also scammed in a sports bar business in New Zealand. These things piled up, leaving me in this state. I’ve had tough times myself, so when someone asked for help, I’d say, ‘Alright, I’ll help.’ It wasn’t a drizzle but a downpour. If only I had continued with ‘Infinite Challenge.'”
Kim Sung-soo was originally a member of MBC’s “Infinite Challenge” but left to pursue acting.
Despite business failures and scams, Kim Sung-soo kept striving for his daughter’s sake. He shared, “My life’s goal is to get my daughter into a good college, to raise her well. It’s tough to keep balanced with one pillar gone, and I tried hard to make up for it. I was often in chaos myself. There should be someone to scold and someone to comfort. But since I did it all alone, my daughter would be confused seeing a ‘kind dad who also scolds.’ It was hard to make her understand.”
Kim Sung-soo described his daughter as “always worrying, thinking about me, and making seaweed soup for my birthday, clumsily but lovingly. She writes hand-written letters, calls saying ‘I miss you’ when something ends, and no matter where I am in the evening, I always pick her up from school.”
Kim Sung-soo’s daughter is now entering college. He proudly shared she “won admissions at both Kyonggi University and Dankook University for fine arts, achieving ‘two wins in early admissions.’ I was more nervous dropping her off for the college entrance exam than I was on my first broadcast. Hearing she got admitted felt like flying.”
Kim Sung-soo married in 2004 and had one daughter. After divorcing in 2010, his ex-wife passed away in 2012 after a confrontation in a bar led to her being fatally stabbed.