Shovel, Cheonilmun, Sonsa Tam… Legend’s original instructors

“These days, kids don’t know their grandchildren, are they real?” (Online Community Comment)

Son Joo-eun (59), chairman of Megastudy, gave a lecture at an entrance exam presentation in 2019, which has become a hot topic lately. Chairman Son, who founded Megastudy, professed that “the private education industry will fall within 10 years.” The video spread online and hit hundreds of thousands of views.

As the video became popular online, it was said in the internet community that teenage students these days don’t know who Son is. Netizens in their 20s and 30s who remember him as a legend of private education responded that they were surprised.

Recently, as the’working instructor’, who earns a large amount of money at a young age, has become a hot topic, the news from the original instructors is also drawing attention. What are they doing in the era of Ingang (internet lectures) since the early 2000s? At that time, I looked into the current situation of Ilta instructors who remained as memories in the PMP (Portable Multimedia Player) screen.

In the early 2000s, Chairman Son was evaluated as the best teaching power in Gangnam. In 2000, he founded Megastudy and laid the foundation for the internet lecture industry. “If you don’t want to be a gene, it’s wise to give up your studies as soon as possible.” Chairman Son, who has been triumphantly in private education, said, “The wealth gained from private education is not proud.” In 2017, it became a hot topic by establishing the’Yoon Min Creative Investment Foundation’ to support young entrepreneurship by donating 30 billion won in private funds, saying, “The feeling of paying debts to young people.

Woo Hyeong-cheol (57), a first-generation math instructor who is famous for the nickname’Sapjaru’, has continued to expose the problem of’illegal comments’ in the private education industry even after retiring from the lecturer. However, no news came after he collapsed in February of last year due to a sudden brain hemorrhage. However, when Park Gwang-il, a Korean language instructor who raised suspicion of manipulating comments, was arrested last month, reactions continued to pray for the well-being of Mr. Wu.

Wu, who was in a coma, regained consciousness a few months ago. According to an aide, he also heard news of Instructor Park Kwang-il’s arrest on the bed. Woo’s aide said, “I haven’t fully recovered my energy, but I can say a few words.”

Shin Seung-beom, 50, who played an active part in math in the 2010s following the shovel, left the industry in 2019. Although he made a name for himself for his excellent teaching power, he was in crisis after being accused of manipulating comments in 2017. Subsequently, the police investigation concluded that there was no charge of participating in illegal comments, and the prosecution was dismissed without prosecution, but was pushed out of other positions.

Among the first-generation instructors with decades of experience in education, many work as educational experts.

Man-gi Lee (60), who was a popular teacher at EBS in the 1990s, before Ingang became popular, left school in the early 2000s and joined Megastudy. As a first-generation Korean language instructor in Ingang, he also served as an essay lecturer as the influence of essay writing increased at the time of the entrance exam. After moving to Uway Eduro in 2005, he has been working as an entrance examination expert until now, and recently expanded his activities to YouTube.

Beom Lee (52) became popular as a science instructor in the early 2000s, whose scale was small compared to Korean, English, and mathematics. Afterwards, Lee quit lectures on the SAT and worked as an education critic, but around 2010, he established a deep relationship with the political world. In 2012, he served as an educational policy advisor at Ahn Cheol-soo’s camp, and in the 2017 presidential election, he joined Moon Jae-in’s camp.

Lee, who showed a friendly position in the early Moon Jae-in regime, recently published a book criticizing the government’s education policy. Lee’s acquaintance said, “Recently, I know that I have turned to a critical position of the current regime’s education policy,” and “I am leaving Korea and staying in the UK now.”

Although most first-generation first-generation instructors left the pulpit, there are cases where they are still active as popular instructors.

Kim Ki-hoon, who gained popularity in the 2010s with’Cheonilmun’ and’End of Word’, is still teaching at Megastudy. It is known that it is still at the top level. An official in the entrance examination industry said, “It’s not as overwhelming as it used to be, but it’s still a popular instructor,” he said. “There are few cases where I have been active in this fierce industry for 20 years.”

Since the 2010s, the generation of teachers has changed and the use of social media has increased, so the characteristics of teachers have changed. Unlike the first generation, which was mainly evaluated only for teaching power, industry officials recently argued that’starness’ is an important factor. Hyun Woo-jin, a math instructor, has 120,000 followers on Instagram. Mathematics instructor Seung-je Jeong also appeared on TV trot audition programs, while private instructor Lee Ji-young actively meets with fans through personal broadcasting.

An official from the entrance examination industry said, “Lecture is still important, but star temperament and communication are important to buy students’ fan spirit.”

Reporter Nam Gung-min [email protected]