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Jung Hyung-don's Family Is Back Together After 5 Years, and His New Shop Got an 'Infinite Challenge' Welcome

The comedian's wife and twin daughters are back in Korea after five years in Hawaii, he has reopened his famous tonkatsu brand as a real shop, and two old Infinite Challenge friends came by to cheer him on.

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Key facts

  • Who: Comedian Jung Hyung-don, 48, and his wife, writer Han Yoo-ra
  • What: After five years of living apart while Han and their twin daughters lived in Hawaii for the girls' education, the family has returned to Korea (Money Today, Star News)
  • Also new: He opened a Doni Doni Donkatsu shop in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, and Infinite Challenge's Park Myung-soo and Jung Jun-ha visited (Star News)

Fact-checked by the House of Grey News Desk, sources linked below.

Jung Hyung-don in a plaid flat cap speaking into a microphone, beside the headline: his family is home, and Infinite Challenge pals visited his new shop
Jung Hyung-don at a film premiere in Seoul, March 2011. Photo: acrofan.com / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0. Card by House of Grey. Full credits below.

Five years, countless flights, and one very emotional homecoming: Jung Hyung-don's family is back under one roof.

The Infinite Challenge favorite has wrapped up five years as a "gireogi appa," the Korean term for a "wild goose dad" who works at home while his family lives abroad for the kids' schooling, Money Today reports.

Goodbye, Hawaii

His wife, writer Han Yoo-ra, lived in Hawaii with their twin daughters for five years, while Jung kept working in Korea and flew back and forth to spend time with them, according to Money Today. A video posted Oct. 17 on Han's YouTube channel, "Han Jakga," recorded their final month there, the outlet reports, and Star News says Han and the girls have recently returned to Korea.

In the video, the couple sat down together in the Hawaii condo where Han and the twins had lived. When Han asked how it felt to come home "in glory," Jung joked that they should "take out the 'glory' part," according to Money Today (translated from Korean by House of Grey).

Then he gave her the credit. "Han Yoo-ra, you worked hard. Really, for five years," he said, per Money Today (translated from Korean by House of Grey). Han answered that nobody in the family had it easy, so she couldn't take all the credit herself.

He also opened up about why they did it. Jung said he had always wanted to study abroad himself, and that the longing he felt as a child stayed with him. "In a way, it was my own wish," he said, as quoted by Money Today (translated from Korean by House of Grey). News1 headlined the same moment with his words calling the girls' studies abroad "compensation for what I lacked."

Doni Doni is back

And there's more good news. Jung has opened a tonkatsu shop in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, Star News reports. It's his Doni Doni Donkatsu brand, which he first launched in 2011 and which sold out on home shopping channels. In April he announced he was selling it again for the first time in 13 years, starting on home shopping before opening the shop, the outlet says.

A quiet street of small shops and cafes in Seongsu-dong
A general street view of Seongsu-dong, Seoul, the neighborhood where Jung opened his shop (not his shop itself), in 2022. Photo: CartoonChess / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Friends have been stopping by to help spread the word. Comedian Shim Jin-hwa posted photos from her visit with her husband Kim Won-hyo, and singer Lee Ji-hoon brought his whole family, according to Star News.

The twist: an Infinite Challenge reunion

But the visitors that made fans' hearts skip were two very familiar faces. Jung's fellow Infinite Challenge members Park Myung-soo and Jung Jun-ha both visited Doni Doni Donkatsu, Star News reports, sharing photos from the shop.

Jung Jun-ha smiling at an outdoor event
Infinite Challenge's Jung Jun-ha at a show event in 2014. Photo: Park Dae ung / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

Years after the show, the old crew still turns up for each other. Love that for him. (More Korean star news: Youn Yuh-jung's quiet 80th birthday party.)

Jung debuted as a comedian with KBS in 2002 and married Han in 2009; the couple welcomed their twin daughters in 2012, according to Money Today and Star News.

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FAQ

Why did Jung Hyung-don live apart from his family?

His wife Han Yoo-ra lived in Hawaii with their twin daughters for the girls' education for five years, while he kept working in Korea and flew back and forth, according to Money Today. In Korea this is called being a 'gireogi appa,' or 'wild goose dad.'

Is Jung Hyung-don's family back in Korea?

Yes. Star News reports that Han Yoo-ra and the twins have recently returned to Korea, and a video on Han's YouTube channel 'Han Jakga' recorded their last month in Hawaii, according to Money Today.

Where is Jung Hyung-don's tonkatsu shop?

He opened a Doni Doni Donkatsu shop in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, according to Star News, 13 years after he last sold the brand.

Which Infinite Challenge members visited Jung Hyung-don's shop?

Park Myung-soo and Jung Jun-ha both visited the shop, Star News reports.

How we fact-checked this

Every fact, figure and quote in this story was checked against the 4 sources linked below (Money Today, News1, Star News, Wikipedia). Quotes appear as those sources reported them, anything unconfirmed is labeled as such, and the photos are Creative Commons licensed and credited.

Sources

Photo credits

Our story card adapts these photos (cropping, color and added text). Because a source photo is licensed CC BY-SA, the adapted card is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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