Jeon Won-joo says she tried to raise her fee before her YouTube team quit

The fee dispute behind the channel shakeup

Jeon Won-joo has explained why the production team behind her YouTube channel 전원주인공 walked out. She sat down with longtime friend and fellow actress Samija (사미자) and Samija's husband Kim Gwan-su (김관수) on September 11 in a video published on the channel 오미자 말고 사미자. The actress was born in 1939.

Miming a money gesture, Jeon said: "I tried to raise this, but they said they would quit, so I just went ahead with it." She'd also considered leaving herself. "I thought I shouldn't be too concerned about money. I just decided to go ahead with it."

Kim Gwan-su offered blunt counsel: "It's time to stop worrying about such things now."

What the channel and agency have said

On August 24, the 전원주인공 production team announced they were withdrawing from production and operation of the channel. Viewers grew anxious. Jeon had disclosed a mild cognitive impairment diagnosis on TV Chosun's Perfect Life back in April, and many suspected health was behind the exit.

Sky People Entertainment rejected that. The departure had nothing to do with health, the agency said. The channel would be reorganized and resume operations under the existing account.

Jeon confirmed it herself: "I will start again now."

전원주인공 posted its first video in October of last year and has since crossed 100,000 subscribers. (For a channel built around an 86-year-old actress navigating daily life, that's substantial.)

A career that started in 1963

Jeon Won-joo graduated from Sookmyung Women's University and worked as a teacher before entering broadcasting in 1963. She joined Dong-A Broadcasting as a voice actor in the first public recruitment class. Theater productions followed in the 1960s. Her television career stretched across dramas including 청춘의 덫, 야인시대, 불량가족, and 왕가네 식구들.