RUNNING MAN Member's Biography : Yoo Jae Suk

Yoo Jae-Seok (Hangul: 유재석; or spelled Yu Jae-Suk; born on August 14, 1972), is a South Korea comedian and television comedy show host. Nicknamed as "MC of the nation" (국민 MC), people (netizens) have voted him for the most popular Korean comedian for five consecutive years (since 2004). He has hosted several variety television shows in South Korea, including the hugely popular program Infinite Challenge. 

He is the first child out of three (he has two younger sisters). His television debut was on the KBS Comedian Festival (for college students) in 1991, performing a parody of a commercial with Choi Seung-Gyung (Hangul: 최승경). In Infinity Challenge, him dancing to a cover of the song Step by Step by New Kids on The Block was shown as one of his early memorable moments. After nine years of hard times, in 2000, he hosted a program called Live and Enjoy Together, thanks to Choi Jin-Sil's recommendation. The program became instantly popular, and since then, Yoo began to host many other variety programs. His potentiality was fully shown when he co-hosted a program called The Crash of MCs (MC 대격돌 – 공포의 쿵쿵따) with Kang Ho-Dong, Lee Hui-Jae and Kim Han-Seok.

His first Grand Prix was for a program called Happy Together Friends, which concept based on TV personalities trying to find their school friends (five of them) out of many (false friends) who are sitting behind the desk. The show brought reminiscence upon the viewers' school days, and became very popular. This Grand Prix is even more memorable, not just because it was Yoo's first one, but it was from the broadcasting system where he debuted.

He hosted the shows X-man, which soon grew to be very popular, and thus one of the most viewed shows in Korea. During those times, he gained much more popularity and many programs began to nickname Yoo as "MC of the Nation".

Yoo is a part of the cast of the top-rated comic variety program Muhan Dojeon (무한도전), as the host-in-chief since 2005. Initially a six-member cast, Haha left the program as he was drafted to serve his mandatory military service and was replaced by Shinhwa's Junjin. 

Yoo also co-hosts Come to Play (놀러와) with Kim Won-Hee and Happy Together Season 3 (해피 투게더 3) with Park Myung-Soo, Park Mi-Seon and Shin Bong-Seon. Yoo hosted these talk shows for a long period of time (both over 5 years), but the ratings have been constantly high throughout the years. 

After those replacement shows on SBS, on June 15, 2008, Yoo (since episode 19) is the host and family member of Family Outing (패밀리가 떴다), part of SBS's Good Sunday lineup. Since then, Family Outing has become one of the top-rated shows in Korea, consistently achieving the highest ratings at Sunday mid-afternoon time-slot (especially during the first and second quarters of 2009). However, with various problems and scandals regarding the program, and by the end of 2009 and beginning of 2010, a rumor of Yoo not continuing his contract with Family Outing was raised. By the time of his contract expiration, Family Outing rating wasn't same as that of beginning of 2009, and Season 1 was brought to an end (on 2010.02.14 with Family Awards).

On July 6, 2008, Yoo Jae-Seok married MBC announcer Na Gyoung-Eun (나경은) who has also worked on the show Infinite Challenge. Yoo and his wife welcomed their first child, a son, on May 1, 2010. He is a Buddhist.

From July 11, 2010, he is hosting in a variety show called Running Man together with Ji Suk Jin, Kim Jong Kook, Kang Hee-gun/Gary (LeesSang), Ha Dong Hoon, Song Ji Hyo, Lee Kwang Soo, and Song Joong Ki (who has since left the show as of episode 41 to focus on his acting career).

Yoo Jae Suk's touching letter : 

It was revealed that Yoo Jae Suk had had to move three times as a young student, and he had to adjust quickly. In sixth grade, he became class president. He recalled how his mother had seemed delighted yet uneasy at the same time. She had said, “Now that our Jae Suk is class president, I should introduce myself to the teacher and attend the PTA meetings as much as I can.”

His mother could not greet the teacher with “empty hands” (it is custom for parents to bring gifts for their teachers) and the mother of the class president was expected to make donations to the PTA. His father was a communications civil servant, and his family did not have much money.

An excerpt from the letter reveals, “From then on, I met my mother at school often. I remember seeing her cleaning the flower beds and the front of the school gate… It was only later that I realized that she was doing these things because she did not have enough money to make donations. After I found this out, I don’t know how much I cried.”

Finally, he ended the letter with a heartfelt message for his mother. “Even if I repay you forever, it will not be enough to pay you back for your love. I have never shown you how much I love you. Today I will shout it out loud. Mother, I love you.”