‘The elevator guy in Gangnam Style video’ makes controversial return to TV

December 18, 2015
Noh Hong-chul (Yonhap)

Noh Hong-chul (Yonhap)

By Kim Jae-heun

Korean entertainer Noh Hong-chul, better known as “The elevator guy in Gangnam Style music video” to people outside Korea, returns to tvN’s new TV show “Dignity of My Room” after a one year hiatus following a drunk-driving incident last year.

However, the public still sees it as too early for Noh to return to television.

Noh debuted in early 2004 with the cable TV show “Dr. No’s Pleasure Street” and walked the road to success by appearing on popular entertainment shows such as MBC’s “Come to Play” and “Infinite Challenge.” But it only took one incident to pull him down from fame when police arrested him for drunk driving. Noh withdrew from all his TV shows.

Celebrities’ drunk-driving scandals have been reported from time to time and one the most infamous incidents involved Kim Sang-hyuk, a member of former boy band “Click-B,” in 2005. Kim said at the press conference at the time that he drank but did not drink and drive. The backlash to that explanation resulted in a 10 year hiatus.

Noh had also stated that he only drank one glass of wine, but his breath test came out above a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of 0.1 percent, which is high enough to have his driving license revoked.