(Comedian Lee Jin-ho, who admitted to illegal online gambling, is appearing at Seoul Gangnam Police Station in the afternoon of October 2024 to undergo related questioning. Yonhap News

Comedian Lee Jin-ho, who is hospitalized in the intensive care unit, is reportedly struggling to cover his hospital expenses.

According to YouTuber Lee Jin-ho on the 10th, Lee Jin-ho, who lost consciousness on the 1st and was transported to a hospital, is paying the full cost of intensive care out of pocket due to unpaid health insurance premiums. He is currently not in a life-threatening condition but is still recovering in the ICU.

Since April 2023, Lee Jin-ho failed to pay 28.84 million won in National Health Insurance premiums, and in December last year he was listed by the National Health Insurance Service as a high-amount, habitual delinquent. If premiums are in long-term arrears, health insurance benefits are suspended and the entire cost of treatment shifts to out-of-pocket payment.

It is reported that Lee Jin-ho's older brother has been scrambling to raise money for the hospital bills, but without success.

Lee Jin-ho's financial crisis stems from illegal gambling. His debts to private lenders from illegal online gambling alone reached 1.3 billion won, and it was revealed that he also borrowed money from acquaintances under false pretenses, resulting in multiple celebrity victims. He was referred without detention last April, and a trial is underway.

While on a period of self-reflection, last September he drove under the influence with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.11%, traveling about 100 km from Incheon to Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province, and received a driver's license revocation, among multiple overlapping criminal cases.

Lee Jin-ho's agency SM C&C maintains that "(Lee Jin-ho's) recovery is the top priority".