[Sportschosun Reporter Lee Ji-hyun] Former national speed-skating team member Lee Sang-hwa pulled off an epic hidden-camera prank targeting her husband, Kangnam.
On the 15th, the YouTube channel “Neighborhood Friend Kangnami” released a video showing Lee Sang-hwa secretly disposing of the Pokémon cards Kangnam treasured.
That day, Lee Sang-hwa urgently summoned the production crew and declared, “I’m going to sell the cards.” Kangnam had continued buying Pokémon cards whenever he traveled to Japan, even breaking a promise he had made to himself not to buy any more.
“If he breaks a promise, I sell them without mercy,” Lee Sang-hwa said as she revealed Kangnam’s Pokémon cards, which filled the house. The collection had grown large enough to fill three drawers, so Lee decided to visit a card shop herself to have the cards appraised.
However, Lee Sang-hwa was the one left shocked after learning the cards’ actual value. The collection included boxes priced in the 200,000-won range, unopened boxes traded for 850,000 to 1 million won, and boxes worth as much as 2.3 million won. Individual cards were even more astonishing. Some Pikachu cards were valued at well over 10 million won, while Luigi Pikachu was appraised at about 12.5 million won and a 20th-anniversary Pikachu at approximately 15 million won.
Other high-value cards were priced in the 20-million-won range. After examining Kangnam’s entire collection, the card shop estimated that its bulk purchase value would be about 200 million won. Lee Sang-hwa was left speechless by the amount, which was far higher than expected.
The actual hidden-camera prank began afterward. While Kangnam was away from home, Lee Sang-hwa removed all the cards and installed cameras inside the house.
When Kangnam returned and discovered that the cards were gone, he immediately called Lee Sang-hwa and asked, “Honey, where are the Pokémon cards?” When she told him she had sold them, Kangnam initially took it as a joke, but he gradually realized that the situation was serious.
Lee Sang-hwa’s expression became especially serious when she lied that she had sold them for 2 million won. Kangnam searched every corner of the house and eventually even dropped to his knees. When Lee later returned home, he urgently asked where the cards had gone, saying, “Why did you sell them?” and “Where did you sell them?”
Lee Sang-hwa added that she had sold them to a middle school student through Karrot. Kangnam begged her to give him the buyer’s contact information, as if he intended to track the buyer down immediately. When Lee asked whether he would buy more cards in the future, Kangnam finally surrendered and promised, “I won’t buy any more. I won’t buy any even when I go to Japan.”
But the entire incident was a hidden-camera prank prepared by Lee Sang-hwa. Kangnam’s cards had not actually been sold; they were safely hidden inside the house.
There was also an unexpected twist. Rather than simply teasing her husband, Lee Sang-hwa personally selected a Pikachu card that Kangnam would like at the card shop and prepared it as a gift. After getting his cards back, Kangnam felt relieved, but he complained to the production crew, “This isn’t a hidden-camera prank. It’s a crime. It’s a scam,” drawing laughter.
The mood changed instantly when Kangnam saw the gift Lee Sang-hwa had prepared. He was delighted because it was a card he had wanted, and he was surprised by his wife’s generous present, saying that the card was worth “more than 5 million won.” He went on to express his gratitude, saying, “I’m genuinely touched,” and “Where can you find a wife like this?” In the end, Kangnam once again promised not to buy any more Pokémon cards this year.
Meanwhile, the two became romantically involved after meeting while filming SBS’s “Law of the Jungle in the Last Indian Ocean” in 2018, and they married in October 2019.
olzllovely@sportschosun.com
This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.
