Park Dong-hoon, the reason why he spent 3.8 billion won in earnings on the streets

Park Dong-hoon, who started a one-person company with 2 million won and grew it into an advertising agency with 10 billion won in annual sales, is now talking not about how he made money, but about where he is spending it. The focus of the Park Dong-hoon episode of the EBS variety show 'Seo Jang-hoon's Neighboring Millionaire,' airing at 9:55 PM on the 24th, is closer to his choices made after his success in the Chungmuro advertising industry. In the preview, he was introduced as the person who poured 3.8 billion won into creating street art galleries in Chungmuro.

The 3.8 billion won usage that draws more attention than the 2 million won startup

Park Dong-hoon's career is dramatic even when looking only at the numbers. In 1992, at the age of twenty-nine, he founded a company, and that one-person enterprise grew into an advertising agency with about 100 employees and a five-story building. When he first entered the advertising industry, he started by moving drawings made by designers to printing shops and learned the ropes at a deskless workstation. The incident where he secretly placed a drawing he made himself on the CEO's desk led to a bank logo project, which subsequently served as a stepping stone for independence as he took on storyboard work for large corporations.

However, the questions the broadcast poses do not end with "how did you earn it." Park Dong-hoon says, "I am now spending the money I have earned throughout my life on the streets." The space under the pedestrian bridge where trash used to pile up has been transformed into the 'Nest Art Museum,' and the leftover patch of land after a road was built became the 'Sabyeonsamgak Art Museum.' It is known that he has created seven street art galleries throughout Chungmuro so far. The scene where he is asked why he spends his own money on places that are not even his own shows that this program aims to look into the direction in which a person spends their money, rather than being a simple tour of wealthy people.

The point the variety show should capture beyond the success story

'Seo Jang-hoon's Neighboring Millionaire' takes the format of introducing people who have made a lot of money, but the strength of each episode ultimately comes from the attitude behind the numbers. The same applies to the Park Dong-hoon episode. The numbers—10 billion won in annual sales, about 100 employees, and 3.8 billion won—catch the eye, but they do not linger on their own. The more important part is why the perspective he gained through advertising storyboards turned toward street art galleries, and why a successful businessman spends time on public spaces that do not provide immediate returns.

The broadcast also features his childhood living with his maternal grandmother at the foot of Jirisan Mountain in Sancheong, Gyeongsangnam-do. He recalls being unable to endure hunger and taking scorched rice soup from the wooden porch of the house next door to share with his grandmother, and a moment when he remembers a basin being filled generously with rice grains. His comment, "I think the lady knew I was taking it and intentionally looked after me," serves as a clue explaining why Park Dong-hoon cannot simply pass by the empty gaps in the streets. Rather than reading it merely as a story of donations or good deeds after success, it is more accurate to see it as a story of how the warmth he received in his childhood has returned in a way that changes urban spaces.

The next point of interest is the actual spaces shown in the broadcast

The highlight of this episode is not Park Dong-hoon's secret to company growth, but how the various spaces in Chungmuro appear on screen. The preview includes a space that was once a performance hall and has been decorated like his own playground, and a scene where Park Dong-hoon tells Seo Jang-hoon, "You have a really sharp eye," after Seo notices a floor mechanism that moves up and down. If the broadcast properly shows the transformation of places and human memories rather than the scale of the numbers, the Park Dong-hoon episode can remain an episode that asks "why do you spend it that way" rather than "how much did you earn."