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Kang Ho-dong
Kang in 2016
Born	(1970-07-14)July 14, 1970 (age 55) Jinju,South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea
Employer	SM C&C
Notable work	SBSX-Man SBSLove Letter SBSStar King MBCGolden Fishery KBSHappy Sunday:2 Days & 1 Night SBSStrong Heart KBSOur Neighborhood Arts and Physical Education tvNNew Journey to the West JTBCKnowing Bros tvNKang's Kitchen
Spouse	Lee Hyo-jin (이효진) ​ (m. 2006)​
Children	1
Comedy career
Years active	1993–present
Genre	Comedy
Korean name
Hangul	강호동
Hanja	姜鎬童
RR	Gang Hodong
MR	Kang Hodong

Kang Ho-dong (born July 14, 1970) is a South Korean television host, comedian and formerssireum wrestler.

In 2008, Kang became the first comedian in history to win theBaeksang Arts Awards Daesang (Grand Prize) for Television category. This made him the first in history to achieve an entertainment awards Daesang grand slam, includingKBS,MBC,SBS andBaeksang.^[1]

Along with comedianYoo Jae-suk, he has terminated his contract with De Chocolate E&TF (a.k.a. Stom E&F) for issues of non-payment.^[2] On September 9, 2011, Kang announced that he would be taking a temporary leave of absence from the public eye due to rumors of tax evasion^[3] (which were later found to be caused by mistake by one of his agency's accountants).^[4] He announced his return to the entertainment industry in late 2012 withS.M. C&C as Kang's new agency.

Kang was born inJinju on July 14, 1970 (11th day of the 6th lunar month), to a family of one brother and three sisters. Kang first met his wife on arranged double blind date with Yoo Jae-suk and on November 12, 2006, Kang married Lee Hyo-jin.^[5] They had their first child, a boy named Kang Si-hoo, on March 13, 2009.^{[citation needed]}

Kang graduated fromMasan Business High School. After graduating from high school, he started participating actively in professionalSsireum (Korean wrestling) matches. Early in his wrestling career, he lost many matches. However, on July 8, 1989, at the 44th national ssireum championships, the unseeded Kang managed to defeat the legendaryLee Mangi and went on to win the tournament, which marked the start of his successfulSsireum career. Known as 'Devil on the sand' for his arrogant and fearless demeanor, he went on to win the Baekdujangsa Ssireum Championship seven times and theCheonhajangsa Ssireum Championship five times. He was widely recognized as the youngest ever Cheonhajangsa title holder.

After Kang retired from wrestling, he began his MC and comedian career in 1993, appearing onMBC as atalent. He was influenced byLee Kyung-kyu, who is a famous MC and comedian in South Korea. He later became the host of a number of popularvariety programs such asX-Man,Love Letter andYa Shim Man Man. Kang has won numerous entertainment awards, and is widely recognized as one of the best television hosts in Korean television history. In 2011, he hosted four popularvariety programs –Happy Sunday -2 Days & 1 Night,^[6]Golden Fishery,Star King andStrong Heart.

In 2008, the44th Baeksang Arts Awards, Kang became the first in history to win the TV category Daesang (Grand Prize) as a comedian. The Daesang had only been awarded to TV actors/actresses ever since its establishment and Kang is the first one to break this tradition.

On September 9, 2011, Kang held a press conference announcing his retirement from the entertainment industry due to his tax evasion controversy and demand for investigation by the National Tax Service.^[7]Kang was investigated for tax evasion. He was initially laid with a fine due to a discrepancy in his numbers, but it seems that there were no formal charges or processes made against the multi-entertainer. On December 17, the Seoul District Prosecutor Office announced, "In the case of the fine being less than $500,000 USD (per year), the National Tax Service must file a charge of tax evasion in order for the subject to be a suspect of tax evasion. However, there has been no such charge up until now, so we have decided to drop the case as of the 16th." Kang Ho Dong's fine amounts to $700,000 USD for a combined three years, significantly less than the required $500,000 USD per year. The National Tax Service added, "Kang Ho Dong's annual fine is less than the required $500,000 USD. Furthermore, he did not commit acts of intentional evasion. It is merely a mistake made on behalf of his accountant, so we will not be charging him with tax evasion.^[4]

On August 17, 2012, Kang signed an exclusive contract withSM C&C. CEOLee Soo-man convinced Kang personally when he was retired along with fellow MC Shin Dong-yupSM Entertainment and made a comeback.

Kang had a rough time after his return to the industry. Multiple programs in three main public broadcasts were canceled because of low ratings. However, starting at the end of 2015, Kang hosted a number of new variety shows in cable broadcast includingKnowing Bros,Let's Eat Dinner Together inJTBC andNew Journey to the West series intvN. All of these programs have received very good feedback and high ratings. Thanks to the popularity of the programNew Journey to the West, a spin-off program calledKang's Kitchen was launched. As a result, Kang slowly regained his popularity and re-established his status of National MC.

He owns a chain of Korean barbecue restaurants called Baek Jeong.^[8]

• Happy Sunday -1 Night 2 Days is a wildvariety program that airs on Sundays. Six or seven members, originally Kang Ho-dong (main MC),Lee Soo-geun,Eun Ji-won,Kim Jong-min,Ji Sang-ryul andNoh Hong-chul, later members in season 1 wereLee Seung-gi,Kim C,MC Mong, andUhm Tae-woong, go on a trip for 1 night and 2 days and they play games (Bok-bul-bok) and present the beautiful scenery ofSouth Korea to the viewers. Kang won his first Daesang from KBS during the annualKBS Entertainment Awards in 2008 for hosting2 Days & 1 Night.
• Golden Fishery was atalk show that aired on Wednesdays. Kang Ho-dong played a "knee guru" to whom celebrities presented a current problem and Kang, along with popularcomedianYoo Se-yoon and All Rise Band, tried to come up with a solution.
• Star King is atalentvariety program that airs on Saturdays. Each week, there are different challengers who compete for the title "STAR KING" and guests stars are invited to be the judges of the competition.
• Strong Heart was atalk show originally hosted by Kang Ho-dong andLee Seung-gi. It aired on Tuesdays. Each week, 24 guest stars were invited to share their entertaining or heartwarming stories that are related to the theme assigned and the guest with the most touching story was presented with the "Strong Heart" title.
• Barefooted Friends was a variety and travel show where the hosts visited various countries in Asia, blending in by living like the locals in that specific country. Kang Ho-Dong was permanent host to the end of the show, alongsideYoon Shi-yoon,Yoon Jong-shin,Yoo Se-yoon,Kim Bum-soo,Eunhyuk,Kim Hyun-joong andUee
• Our Neighborhood Arts and Physical Education orCool Kiz on the Block is a variety sports show where the members play amateur sports games. When a sport ends, new members join the cast. Only the three permanent members stay, currently Kang Ho-dong (main MC),Jeong Hyeong-don, and Yang Sangguk. The members play against amateur or professional teams, and often fellow stars. At the KBS 2013 entertainment awards,Cool Kiz on the Block received a reward for the best teamwork.
• New Journey to the West is a Korean reality TV series well known for reuniting the original cast and producer from the “golden era” of the KBS2 variety show “1 Night 2 Days, “New Journey to the West,” named after the Chinese legend “Journey to the West,” features a trip undertaken by Korean TV personalities Kang Ho-dong, Lee Soo-geun, Eun Ji-won and Lee Seung-gi for 1st season. The first season of the show garnered an accumulated 50 million views on domestic portals by April 19, 2016.^[9]
• New Journey to the West 2 is a sequel series ofNew Journey to the West starring South Korean comedians Kang Ho-dong, Lee Soo-geun, singer Eun Ji-won and actor Ahn Jae-hyeon replaced Lee Seung-gi due to his attend to serve active military duty. The sequel however was watched more than 211 million times on Tencent (http://v.qq.com) as of Friday, tvN said. It is the shortest time a video has ever taken on the website to break 1 million views, the South Korean cable network said, adding the show has remained No. 1 in the entertainment category since premiering 45 days ago. (reported by 2016-06-04 11:16)^[10]

  Off-Air  On-Air

• 2005: "Oh! Happy Day" (Christmas carol featuring child actress, Chae Eun)
• 2009: "Horror Show" (featured inMC Mong's repackaged album,Humanimal, also featured in themusic video)
• 2018: "I kicked my luck off" (SM Station, Kang Ho-dong &Hong Jin-young)

• DE Chocolate E&TF - Official Website (in Korean) at theWayback Machine (archived 2009-01-30)

• Grand Prize Paeksang Arts Award (television) winners
• South Korean television presenters
• South Korean male comedians
• South Korean ssireum practitioners
• South Korean male sport wrestlers
• 1970 births
• Living people
• People from Jinju
• SM Entertainment
• Best Variety Performer Male Paeksang Arts Award (television) winners
• Blue Dragon Series Awards winners

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