Profile: Kang Ho Dong

KANG HO DONG

Kang Ho Dong (born June 11, 1970) is a former Korean MC and comedian, who first became known to Koreans as the top Korean traditional wrestler. Along with comedian Yoo Jae Suk, he has terminated his contract with De Chocolate E&TF (a.k.a. Stom E&F) for issues of non-payment. In September 2011, Kang retired from the entertainment industry and withdrew from all his TV shows due to a demand for back taxes.

Kang Ho Dong was born in Jinju on June 11, 1970 to a family of one brother and three sisters. On November 12, 2006, Kang married Lee Hyo Jin. On March 13, 2009, they had their first child, a boy named Kang Si-Hoo. Kang was not present at the birth as he was away filming an episode of 1 Night 2 Days. He was also away filming for the program on the couple's first wedding anniversary

Kang Ho Dong graduated from Masan Business High School. After graduating from high school, he started participating actively in professional Ssireum (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 legendary Lee Man-ki and went on to win the tournament, which marked the start of his successful Ssireum 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 the Cheonhajangsa 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 1999, appearing on MBC as a talent. He was influenced by Lee Kyung-kyu, who is a famous MC and comedian in South Korea. He later became the host of a number of popular variety programs such as X-Man, Love Letter and Ya 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 popular variety programs – Happy Sunday - 1 Night 2 Days, Golden Fishery, Star King and Strong Heart. On September 9, 2011, Kang held a press conference announcing his retirement from the entertainment industry due a demand for back taxes by the National Tax Service, but was not charged with tax evasion as his annual tax payments do not exceed W500 million. On 17 August 2012, Kang along with fellow MC Shin Dong-yup signed exclusive contracts with SM C&C in collaboration with SM Entertainment and will be planning for his comeback

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