Song Joong-Ki MIGHT come back to Running Man, but there’s just one obstacle

Last Updated on 2016-05-19 , 1:34 pm

Any Running Man fans would know that Song Joong-Ki, our beloved Captain Yoo from Descendants of the Sun, used to be a member of Running Man from 2010 to 2011. In total, he appeared in about 40 episodes, and built a strong friendship with the cast, in particular Lee Kwang-Soo.

In fact, the moment Song Joong-Ki was released from the army and was going to film Descendants of the Sun, he dropped by the set of Running Man and addressed the cast, saying that he missed them. No one would have expected that he would be so insanely popular after Descendants of the Sun, eh?

Song Joong-Ki has also built a strong friendship with Lee Kwang-Soo and Kim Jong-Kook—they regularly went for drinks and hang out together. Kim Jong-Kook was also the one who gave him advice on how to build up his muscles!

Interestingly, as Descendants of the Sun aired, guess where Song Joong-Ki watched most of the episodes? Not at his own home but in Lee Kwang Soo’s house. The friendship between these two must be pretty damn close for two grown man to be watching a romance drama (though he did mention that lifelong friends like Lee Kwang-Soo would be able to give him sincere feedback on his acting).

In the latest interview by Running Man producer Jung Chul Min, who just took over the show about two months ago, he is looking at the possibility of getting Song Joong-Ki back, either as a guest or a permanent member.

However, here’s the thing: Song Joong-ki’s value has grown exponentially since Descendants of the Sun, and his fees would have increased a lot as well. The producer is worried on whether they’ll have the budget to bring him back.

Song Joong-Ki did mention before that given the opportunity, he would definitely appear. Remember how he had rushed over to the Running Man set immediately after his “ORD”?

One thing to note is that the Running Man ratings have been declining—in the latest episode, the nationwide TNmS Ratings is only at 7%, compared to its heyday of 23.4%. In comparison, the TNmS Ratings of Descendants of the Sun is 35.3% for the last episode: that’s five times of Running Man’s latest episode,

Now, while money is involved here, we’ll also have to depend on our betrayer Lee Kwan-Soo. Being the best friend of Song Joong-Ki (you might want to read this article that shows how close they are), he might just be able to convince him over. After all, like what the Running Man producer joked, Lee Kwang-Soo also appeared in Descendants of the Sun, so Song Joong-Ki should get the same amount as Lee Kwang-Soo in Running Man, no?

Whatever it is, we miss you, Joong-ki Oppa! Please come back, because we’ll love a fight between Big Boss and Kim Jong-Kook!