YouTube ‘Chimchakman’ live stream capture.

As cartoonist Kim Poong has emerged as the face of a new meme, he shared an anecdote from the past involving Hong Seok-cheon.

On the 10th, the YouTube channel ‘Chimchakman’ streamed a live broadcast titled ‘Trying the Kim Poong Makeshift Collection with the Executive Director at Mom's Touch’. Appearing as a guest, Kim Poong immediately held chopsticks at both corners of his mouth and struck a ‘walrus’ pose, drawing laughs.

The performance directly parodied a meme that has recently gone viral online. Earlier, a Japanese X (formerly Twitter) user, believed to be a sexual minority, saw a photo of Kim Poong lying on a sofa and looking somewhat bulky and wrote, “He looks like a lecherous walrus,” which drew attention, and the expression spread in abbreviated form as ‘Eumbako’. Owing to automatic translation, the phrasing ended up being quite explicit, but Kim Poong said he laughed at the nickname, and that his wife also enjoyed it.

Kim Poong said, “You never know about demand. I was surprised when I saw the photo myself. I wondered whether my body type was really like that,” adding, “There was demand in my thirties, and it is fascinating that this is still the case now that I am in my early fifties.” He continued, “I am heterosexual, but I have long known that there have been such reactions.”

Recalling the past, Kim Poong also said, “Back in the early days of ‘Please Take Care of My Refrigerator’, Hong Seok-cheon once joked, ‘If you get bored, you should come over too’,” eliciting laughter.