Former “Running Man” Producer Recalls Story Of How Kim Jong Kook Once Helped Song Ji Hyo During A Scary Moment

Kim Jong Kook and his onscreen “lover” Song Ji Hyo are making headlines after a former Running Man staff member disclosed a behind-the-scene story about the two.

On February 17, Kim Jong Kook invited two former Running Man staff members to join him onto his YouTube channel for a mukbang video. While eating some delicious fried chicken, the three men began to chat about the memories that were formed during their time on the variety program and it was during their chat one of the former producers shared an amazing story about our favorite Running Man couple.

The former producer, Hwan Jin, revealed the hilarious and adorable story about the two onscreen lovers from the time when the Running Man cast went to New Zealand, which was Kim Jong Kook’s favorite memory from his time on the show.

The ‘Running Man’ episode that we keep talking about is the New Zealand episode. We had an absolute blast filming at the time.

— Kim Jong Kook

It was following Kim Jong Kook’s introduction that Hwan Jin began his story. The former producer revealed that the New Zealand episode had a sudden spike in viewership ratings, going all the way to 10% during one specific moment—and it was when Kim Jong Kook and Song Ji Hyo participated in the upside down swing together.

The viewership rating was at 10% at the time. Want to know when? It was when you (Kim Jong Kook) rode the upside down swing with Ji Hyo noona. The ratings cooly skyrocketed 8, 9, 10%!  

— Former Running Man producer, Hwan Jin

Hwan Jin continued with his behind-the-scenes story by sharing an adorable detail about Kim Jong Kook’s chivalry. According to the producer, the Running Man “sparta” joined Song Ji Hyo for the swing because she was too scared to do it alone.

It’s called ‘The Nevis Swing’ and it’s really scary. But I convinced her (Song Ji Hyo) to do it at the time. I convinced her to do it in a fun way and asked if she would ride it upside down. Ji Hyo noona has a lot of fear, so she was scared to do it, but [Kim Jong Kook] hyung rode it with her.

— Former Running Man producer, Hwan Jin

While the lovey-dovey bit between Kim Jong Kook and Song Ji Hyo ended there, Hwan Jin revealed that there was a bit more to the story. The former producer shared that after the Running Man couple rode the swing together, the cameraman in charge of filming the two accidentally forgot to record!

After they were done, we all stood up and applauded them. However, the cameraman came to me shaking and said, ‘I didn’t realize it, but I forgot to push the record button.’ So I told her, ‘noona, I’m so sorry but the camera wasn’t on.’

— Former Running Man producer Hwan Jin

So what did they do? Kim Jong Kook and Song Ji Hyo did the Nevis Swing upside down—all over again!

What a freaking story! Be sure to check out the entire New Zealand story on Kim Jong Kook’s mukbang down below!