[Sportschosun Reporter Minjeong Cho] Broadcaster Jun Hyun-moo has teamed up with a new travel partner, Yi Kang, instead of Kwaktube, his colleague at the same agency with whom he had worked closely for a long time. Kwaktube has recently missed two consecutive recordings of “Jeon Hyun-moo’s Plan 4.” Jun Hyun-moo has also faced allegations that his spontaneous trip to Kazakhstan on “I Live Alone” was staged. Against this backdrop, attention is focused on whether his revived “no-plan travel” concept can win viewers back.
Jun Hyun-moo and Yi Kang will join forces on “This Is Hyun-moo Road,” a new MBN entertainment program premiering on the 20th.
Under the motto, “There is no set route, but there are standards,” “This Is Hyun-moo Road” is a real-life travel road trip in which the two personally explore their destinations to find hidden attractions and local restaurants. Rather than relying on prearranged tourist routes or search results, they plan to communicate with local residents and create a one-of-a-kind travel route.
The new program is a project bringing Jun Hyun-moo and the production team behind “Jeon Hyun-moo Plan” back together. The team spent about seven months preparing the program and completed its first shoot last July. It expands the discovery-focused concept of “Jeon Hyun-moo Plan,” which centered on exploring restaurants in Korea, into overseas local travel.
However, the person by Jun Hyun-moo’s side is actor Yi Kang, not Kwaktube, his close partner on “Jeon Hyun-moo Plan.” In the released poster, Jun Hyun-moo and Yi Kang smile brightly against a night-market backdrop, previewing their new travel pairing. The production team expressed confidence that the two would establish customized standards for each destination and personally immerse themselves in local people’s lives and culture.
This fresh start has created an especially unusual atmosphere, coming as it does while Kwaktube’s absence from “Jeon Hyun-moo’s Plan 4” has continued to grow more noticeable.
Kwaktube missed two consecutive recordings of “Jeon Hyun-moo’s Plan 4” because of a busy overseas schedule. Jun Hyun-moo also directly mentioned his absence on the show, saying, “That guy isn’t here today either.”
Instead of appearing on “Jeon Hyun-moo Plan,” Kwaktube showed up through his own travel content. In a recently released video, he traveled from Japan through Abu Dhabi to Türkiye, using a top-tier first-class seat worth approximately 15 million won. Emphasizing that he paid the cost himself, he described it as his biggest “flex” ever.
In effect, “Jeon Hyun-moo Plan” is being filmed without Kwaktube on one side, while Jun Hyun-moo is launching a new travel entertainment show with Yi Kang on the other. For viewers accustomed to the long-established Jun Hyun-moo–Kwaktube pairing, the response to Jun Hyun-moo and Yi Kang’s partnership will be a key point to watch.
Earlier, Jun Hyun-moo presented an improvised trip on MBC’s “I Live Alone,” deciding on his destination only after arriving at the airport and then departing for Almaty, Kazakhstan. However, controversy over the trip’s authenticity erupted after it became known that the production team had purchased staff members’ plane tickets in advance and requested cooperation for filming locally.
The “I Live Alone” team explained that it had prepared for the possibility because it believed Jun Hyun-moo was likely to choose Kazakhstan. Although it did not receive financial support or sponsorship from local authorities, it acknowledged that it had received cooperation needed for administrative procedures and filming. The team apologized for causing viewers misunderstanding and confusion, and also bowed its head over failing to properly check local regulations during the rental-car process.
“This Is Hyun-moo Road” is another no-plan travel entertainment program being introduced immediately after Jun Hyun-moo went through intense controversy over the authenticity of his spontaneous travel. As a result, the program is bound to face stricter scrutiny of its no-plan travel concept than before.
Can Jun Hyun-moo, setting out on a new path with Yi Kang instead of Kwaktube, convince viewers that this time it is “real local travel”? Whether it becomes a bold move to confront the controversy head-on or merely a repetition of a familiar no-plan concept will be revealed when the program premieres on the 20th at 10:30 p.m.
Minjeong Cho, Reporter mj.cho@sportschosun.com
This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.
