Former anchor speaks on failure
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Former MBC anchorperson Choi Il-koo speaks during a ceremony proclaiming a joint strike of the nation’s three TV and radio networks on March 5, 2012, in this file photo. Choi recently released the book “What Is Life About?” telling his life story. / Korea Times file photo
Cover of former anchor Choi Il-koo’s “What Is Life About?”
By Kim Jae-heun
Everyone faces hardships at least once in life. For Choi Il-koo, 56, a former MBC star anchor, the decisive moment came in his middle years when he joined the company’s strike, leading him ultimately to resign.
Nobody expected such a fall in Choi’s successful career as a respected journalist, but once it began, it got worse, just like the old saying “When it rains it pours.”
In Choi’s newly published book, “What is Life About?,” he shares the thoughts and emotions he felt when the former anchorman was forced to leave the company where he had worked for 27 years. Following his unemployment, Choi also filed for bankruptcy after giving a joint guarantee for his brother’s publishing business.
“I learned that no one is there to help me when I am alone in the field, crying,” said Choi in his 265-page book. “It is not because people are pitiless or coldhearted, but they cannot solve my own problem. In the end, I have to come up with the answer by myself.”
Choi was once one of the three most respected journalists as selected by university students back in the mid-2000s. He won several awards as a journalist and even rose to the position of vice chief manager in the newsroom.
Instead of complaining about unexpected difficulties, he talks in a rather calm and straightforward manner in the book. Choi does not want to preach about the life lessons he learned through his hardships, but hopes to share the pain that anybody can face.
Apart from describing his recent state in the book, Choi also talks about his life in his 20s and his journey to becoming a reporter. The former anchor talks about his career at MBC and behind-the-scenes stories. In the last chapter, Choi wrote an encouraging message to junior MBC reporters that time will resolve the current problems they face.
Choi entered MBC, one of Korea’s leading television and radio networks, at the age of 25 and covered news under the city, politics, business and sports desks. In 2003, the journalist became an anchor, hosting the main evening news on weekends for about two years.
With Choi in the post, the MBC news program’s viewership topped that of rivals KBS and SBS, and Choi gained public popularity with his humorous closing remarks.
Choi returned to the anchorman position in 2010, but joined a company strike in February 2012 on behalf of the labor union. Choi hasn’t been seen reporting on the television network since.
Nowadays, he appears on cable TV instead and travels the country to give speeches on the subjects of passion, challenge and communication.