[E-Daily Starin Reporter JOO MEE_HEE ] Park Eun-young, a former KBS anchor turned broadcaster, has shared her candid thoughts on her income and broadcasting activities since becoming a freelancer. Although she has heard comments suggesting she “must be out of work” due to her infrequent TV appearances, she revealed that her actual income is higher than it was during her time as an anchor.

On the 4th, a video titled “What to Do After Leaving KBS? Lee Ji-yeon and Park Eun-young Have a Real Talk and Call Producer Shin Won-ho” was released on the YouTube channel “This Is Lee Ji-yeon.” The video features former KBS announcers Lee Ji-yeon and Park Eun-young meeting to discuss their lives as freelancers after leaving the network.
When Lee Ji-yeon asked about her current activities, Park Eun-young replied, “People have been asking me lately, ‘Why aren’t you on TV?’ but I’m actually doing home shopping.” In response, Lee Ji-yeon quipped, “Home shopping is selective too. Since Eun-young is pretty, she’s in the beauty segment, while I’m in the detergent and laundry segment,” drawing laughter.
Park Eun-young noted that although she isn’t seen on TV very often, her income has actually improved compared to her days as a news anchor. “Even though it might seem like I don’t have much work, I’m earning much more than I did when I was getting a news anchor’s salary,” she said, adding, “Just doing home shopping alone brings in that much.” Lee Ji-yeon also chimed in, saying, “You’re making good money.”
However, she noted that despite her stable income, she still longs to return to broadcasting. Park Eun-young confessed, “I’m so grateful to be doing home shopping,” but added, “Don’t we still have a desire to be on the air? When I bring this up, people say, ‘You’re behind the times,’ or ‘Broadcasting stations are going under—what era are you living in?’ But wasn’t that a different era for us?”
Lee Ji-yeon also shared her thoughts on the changing media landscape. “People say, ‘Who watches legacy media these days? We have to move to new media—ultimately, it’s YouTube,’ but YouTube is already saturated,” she said. “There’s nowhere to go. Still, we keep doing it.”
The two also highlighted the advantages of freelance work when balancing parenting and a career. Lee Ji-yeon noted, “When raising children, it’s better to work outside the home,” citing the relative freedom to manage her own time as a key benefit.
On the other hand, they cited the loneliness they feel after leaving an organization as a drawback. Lee Ji-yeon said, “I’m truly grateful to be able to manage my own time, but there’s one downside for someone with my personality: I get lonely.”
In response, Park Eun-young remarked, “You’d actually be well-suited for a management role. You should have been promoted to department head or bureau chief,” to which Lee Ji-yeon quipped, “I want to be the head of attendance,” drawing laughter.
Park Eun-young joined KBS in 2007 as part of the 33rd open recruitment class of announcers and worked on various programs, including news and variety shows. After leaving KBS in 2020, she has continued her career as a freelance broadcaster.