Kang Moon-kyung, who appeared on ‘Current King of Singers 2’, explained that his harsh criticism of Choi Woo-jin’s first performance, saying “I couldn’t hear the lyrics,” was made with the heart of a close older brother.
After the first broadcast of MBN’s ‘Current King of Singers’ on the 26th, some fans of Choi Woo-jin expressed their disappointment over Kang Moon-kyung’s criticism and left negative comments.
On that day, Choi Woo-jin, who aims to become a national prince, showcased an attractive performance with his rich tone from the very first line while choosing ‘Net’, capturing the audience from the Gyeongsang-do region. Despite receiving 31 buttons in self-evaluation amidst the judges' praise, ‘Current’ Jin Hae-sung and Kang Moon-kyung pointed out that “the lyrics are hard to hear.”
In particular, Kang Moon-kyung closed his eyes and seemed to be lost in thought while listening to Choi Woo-jin’s song. After the performance, he took the microphone and bluntly said, “It hasn’t changed after several years,” which caused Choi Woo-jin to show a somewhat stiff expression. This scene could be misunderstood as rude by viewers who are unaware of their relationship.
Kang Moon-kyung’s side stated, “We are close and often ask each other for advice about music,” adding, “Since the competitions after the preliminaries are so fierce, I wanted to give him a little motivation.” He also expressed his hope that Choi Woo-jin would establish himself as a leading trot singer through this ‘Current King of Singers 2’, as he himself has experienced a long period of obscurity.
Choi Woo-jin is a talented singer who won the Grand Prize at KBS1’s ‘National Singing Contest’ in 2014 and officially debuted in 2016 with the album ‘Sister/Going Straight’. Since then, he has released songs like ‘Ddaenggam’ and ‘Life Cart’ showcasing a wide musical spectrum.
In 2020, he made a mark on the public by recording five consecutive wins in the KBS1 segment ‘Challenge Dream Stage’, and he re-proved his skills by making it to the final six in SBS’s ‘Trot God Has Arrived’ aired the same year.
Kang Moon-kyung delivered an outstanding performance of ‘Old Lover’ in the first episode of ‘Current King of Singers 2’. Lin was immersed, saying, “The Trot God has come,” and Park Hyun-bin also admired, “The song has matured a lot.”
In ‘Current King of Singers 2’, which is selecting a national representative male singer to participate in the Korea-Japan Trot Competition in 2025, which marks the 60th anniversary of Korea-Japan diplomatic relations, 34 top male singers from South Korea are participating, including second-year active singer Choi Soo-ho, 26-year veteran singer Hwan-hee, ‘Trot God Has Arrived’ winner Kang Moon-kyung, and ‘Trot National Sports Festival’ winner Jin Hae-sung. The first broadcast recorded a nationwide viewership rating of 8.02%, ranking first among all programs aired at the same time.
