[Sports Chosun.com Reporter Lee Woo-joo] Broadcaster Noh Hong-chul revealed the abuse he suffered in the military.
On the 17th, a video titled “Luxury Yongsan House of Noh Hong-chul, accommodating 11 people, first revealed” was posted on Noh Hong-chul’s YouTube channel.
In the video, Noh Hong-chul met and talked with fashion entrepreneur Lee Min-wook. The two were senior and junior in the military. Noh Hong-chul recalled his military life, saying, “In my 20s, many people doubted, but I enlisted with an excellent physical grade. It was amazingly different from the world I lived in.”
He shared, “I have a unique way of speaking, and they didn’t like it. I liked calling people by nicknames, but I was told to call them ‘sir.’ They didn’t like that, so I got hit.” Lee Min-wook added, “It was a unit with a lot of beatings, stationed at a guard post.” Noh Hong-chul continued, “I was told to write my name on my underwear, so I wrote ‘handsome,’ wanting to be handsome. But a senior saw it when I took it out. I remember getting hit a lot because of that. It wasn’t their fault. It was just how it was.”
However, as time passed, he was eventually respected. The production staff commented, “We misunderstood, thinking you were often beaten and suffered,” to which Noh Hong-chul replied, “The beatings were momentary. After about a month, the seniors enjoyed going on guard duty with me as time went by faster, and those I met in the military became benefactors to me. Even when faced with challenging situations, if I didn’t lose myself, I was more comfortable than the other soldiers. I applied the same experience when I accidentally entered the entertainment industry. People criticized the level of broadcast content at the time, but thanks to my military experience, I was confident in showing my true self. In a way, the military gave me confidence in broadcasting.”
He shared another experience, saying, “I don’t eat fish, but fish was on the menu every Tuesday morning. I neatly set it aside when a senior criticized me for being picky. The next Tuesday, they only gave me fish on my tray. So, I politely declined, and they eventually took me. I expressed my preferences clearly, and in the end, I didn’t eat fish. If there’s a direction I want to go, even if there are misunderstandings or untrue facts, if I consistently endure them, they’ll recognize it later.”