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Several of Korea's most popular entertainment shows are in a fix over top comedian and TV show host Kang Ho-dong's abrupt decision to temporarily retire from the entertainment industry.

Kang had made the announcement last Friday when despite a public apology early in the week, public furor continued to mount over his failure to declare his income properly for which the National Tax Service (NTS) slapped him with back and penalty taxes worth several hundreds of millions of won.

Kang had been one of the highest-paid names in the Korean entertainment scene as one of the two most prominent and widely-loved hosts, with Yoo Jae-suk.

Now the future of his programs, all popular shows for Korea's three main public broadcasters KBS, MBC and SBS, are up in the air with most of them seemingly in jeopardy although Kang said he will leave his shows "in a manner that will do the least damage to broadcasters and viewers through discussions with producers."

Producers of MBC's Wednesday talk show "The Guru Show," SBS' Saturday show "Star King" and Tuesday talk show "Strong Heart" said they have about two weeks worth of material recorded in advance but have yet to come up with solutions or alternatives for the episodes thereafter.

"It's not easy to think of an alternative because Kang, along with his co-host Lee Seung-gi, have played huge roles from when the program first started," Park Sang-hyuk, producer of "Strong Heart" told 10Asia on Wednesday.

Only KBS' "Two Night and One Day" segment of Sunday program "Happy Sunday" has reached a decision, saying they will continue the show with its remaining five main cast members.

However, Kang last month had already announced his intentions to depart the show which prompted producers to decide to end the show in six months.

Kang, 41, was formerly one of Korea's top traditional wrestlers who in the recent years had been one of the most successful TV personalities in the country since his turn to the entertainment industry in 1993.


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