Yoon Gai and Jo Yuri reunite on '전참시' — high school drama club roots, rare archival footage, and a shared romance complaint

Episode 411 of MBC's 전지적 참견 시점 airs August 15 at 11:10 PM. The setting: Yoon Gai's home. The guest: Jo Yuri, her junior from their high school drama club in Busan.

They've stayed close for over ten years. Both moved to Seoul to chase their dreams—Yoon Gai as an actor, Jo Yuri as an idol—and leaned on each other the whole way. Jo Yuri doesn't hold back on the episode: "Yoon Gai is my first acting teacher." She credits Yoon Gai not just with introducing her to acting but with helping fix her dialect. Yoon Gai tried to brush it off, so Jo Yuri pushed back: "I learned from you, so why are you denying it?"

The broadcast includes archival footage that's been locked away in Yoon Gai's father's possession for years—a video of the two performing in a high school drama club production. Yoon Gai acted in a play she wrote herself. It airs exclusively on the episode.

During the visit, Jo Yuri spots an album in Yoon Gai's home that isn't hers and doesn't hide her jealousy. The two swap stories about their careers, lamenting a shared frustration: "Why don't we get romance?" Neither has landed romantic roles.

The episode touches on recent wins for both women—Yoon Gai's SNL appearance and Jo Yuri's Squid Game casting. Off-screen, Yoon Gai (born 2000) recently confirmed she's dating Jang Kiha, who is 18 years her senior. They met on Coupang Play's SNL Korea Season 4 in 2023, where he was a host and she was a crew member.