A news clip of singer Lee Hyori before her debut that became a hot topic after anchor Kwon Soon-pyo’s past interview. Image captured from an online community

Anchor Kwon Soon-pyo, who took part in a past street interview with singer Lee Hyori, has shared an anecdote from that time.

On his MBC radio program ‘Kwon Soon-pyo’s News High Kick’, Kwon recently revealed the story of meeting Lee Hyori on the street.

He said, “Around 30 years ago, while conducting citizen interviews related to an economic downturn, I spotted a young woman on the street who looked smart and ended up interviewing her.”

He continued, “I had long forgotten about it, and more than 20 years later a junior colleague sent me the clip, saying, ‘This video is trending these days,’” adding, “I was startled when I received it. The citizen I had interviewed back then was Lee Hyori.”

Kwon added, “At the time, I had no idea because Lee Hyori had not yet debuted,” and, “She looked so beautiful and intelligent, and even though she seemed about the age of someone just out of high school, she appeared very pure.”

The video that was recently released and drew attention shows Lee Hyori appearing on MBC News before her debut and giving an interview. When anchor Kwon, who was out conducting interviews at the time, asked, “How do you forecast the economy in the new year?”, Lee Hyori said, “The economy was so bad last year that I think it might improve this year,” drawing notice.

Anchor Kwon Soon-pyo began his reporting career at MBC in 1995 and remains with the network.