Lee Geum-hee
Overview
Lee Geum-hee (이금희) is a South Korean broadcaster and MC who began her career as a KBS announcer. She entered broadcasting through KBS's open recruitment of announcers and has worked across news, current affairs, entertainment, and radio. She has been regarded as a "master of communication" for her calm, warm voice and her hosting style of listening to others' stories to the very end. Since the 1990s, she has been active in broadcasting for more than 30 years, expanding her scope of activity as a radio DJ, program host, lecturer, and author.
Main Content
Entry into Broadcasting and Announcer Years
Lee Geum-hee entered the broadcasting world in the early 1990s when she joined KBS as an announcer through open recruitment. During her time as an announcer, she took charge of both news and current affairs programs and was recognized for her accurate pronunciation and stable hosting ability. She showed particular strength in current affairs programs dealing with family and lifestyle information and in interview-format programs, and many say that her hosting style of comfortably drawing out guests' stories was formed during this period.
Transition to Freelancing and MC Activities
After leaving KBS and transitioning to a freelance broadcaster, Lee Geum-hee hosted a wide range of programs, from the three major terrestrial broadcasters to cable and comprehensive programming channels. She did not discriminate by genre, hosting current affairs and culture talk shows, lifestyle information programs, award ceremonies, and open broadcasts, and she built especially deep trust among middle-aged and older viewers. It is said that her strength as a host lies not in foregrounding emotional reactions but in creating space for guests to speak for themselves.
Radio DJ
One of Lee Geum-hee's representative career achievements is her radio hosting. She has hosted various radio programs, including MBC FM4U's signature midday program "Hope Song at Noon" (정오의 희망곡), continuing direct communication with listeners. She has been praised for the warmth of her way of reading and empathizing with listeners' stories, and she has established herself as a host who values the temperature of the language conveyed through broadcasting. Radio is sometimes introduced as the space where she refined her identity not as a "person who speaks" but as a "person who listens."
Writing and Lectures
Alongside her broadcasting activities, she has also actively engaged in lectures and writing on the themes of conversation methods and communication. She has given invited lectures at companies, public institutions, and universities on topics such as "listening dialogue" and "the attitude of speech," and she has also published books based on her broadcasting experience. Her lectures are known for emphasizing an attitude of respect for others and the skill of listening rather than flashy speech techniques.
Broadcasting Style and Evaluation
Lee Geum-hee's hosting style can be summarized in three main points. First, listening to the other person to the end without interrupting; second, the ability to create an atmosphere through restrained empathy rather than exaggerated reactions; and third, stable delivery based on standard language and accurate pronunciation. Thanks to this style, she is evaluated as showing particular strength in interview and talk programs and on radio, and she is often mentioned as a role model by junior announcers and broadcasters.
Recent Trends
As of 2024–2025, Lee Geum-hee is meeting the public through online platforms such as YouTube while continuing radio and broadcast program hosting and lecture activities. She has appeared as a guest or host on broadcasters' entertainment and current affairs programs, demonstrating a communication style that crosses generations, and her remarks on the theme of "how adults speak" in interview and conversation content have sometimes become a hot topic online. She also continues to work in lectures and humanities and communication content for middle-aged and older audiences, showing a trend of strengthening her identity as a "conversation expert" beyond being a broadcaster. Even amid intensifying competition in radio listenership, she maintains her position as a midday host and, in step with the growth of the podcast and audio content market, continues her influence in audio-based content.
Related Topics
- [[Announcer]]
- [[Radio DJ]]
- [[KBS]]
- [[MBC FM4U]]
- [[Broadcaster]]
- [[Conversation methods]]