Running Man (TV program)

Running Man is a South Korean variety show, formerly part of SBS' Good Sunday lineup. It first aired on July 11, 2010. It is the longest-running Korean variety show.
Running Man was originally classified as an "urban action variety"; a genre of variety shows in an urban environment. The MCs and guests were to complete missions at a landmark to win the race. The show has since shifted to a more familiar reality-variety show concept focused on games. It has garnered attention as being the comeback program for Yoo Jae-suk, the main MC of the program, after leaving Good Sundays Family Outing in February 2010.
The show has become popular in other parts of Asia, and has gained online popularity among Hallyu fans, having been fansubbed into various languages, such as English, Persian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Malay, Indonesian, Burmese, Arabic, Russian, and Turkish. The show has made it to the list of Business Insiders 20 TV Shows of 2016.
Since April 2017, Running Man is airing as the first part of Good Sunday at 4:50 pm KST and competing against KBS2's The Return of Superman and MBC's King of Mask Singer. Running Man previously aired at 6:25 pm KST on Sundays, as the second part of Good Sunday, competing against KBS2's 2 Days & 1 Night. The show celebrated its 11th anniversary on July 11, 2021, with 563 episodes, surpassing MBC's Infinite Challenge for the longest entertainment program in South Korea.
On December 20, 2024, it was revealed that Running Man will become one of SBS' Programs to be aired on Netflix as a part of partnership collaboration agreements.

Format

Current

As of episode 48, the members have taken part in a series of missions to become the winner at the end of the race. Missions form the basis of Running Man as members try to avoid punishment in earlier episodes or to win prizes. Multiple missions are presented in each episode, with the highlight of Running Man being race missions. The format of the show has veered away from the "race mission + others" to "one continuous race + missions".

Personnel

Cast members

Current

Rental

Kang Hoon
Choi Daniel

Former

The original cast members consists of Yoo Jae-suk, Gary, Haha, Jee Seok-jin, Kim Jong-kook, Lee Kwang-soo and Song Joong-ki. Song Ji-hyo was originally a guest for the second and third landmarks. She officially joined the program in the fourth landmark, but was unable to attend until the fifth landmark. In April 2011, Song Joong-ki recorded his last episode in May, leaving the program to focus on his acting career. He returned in episode 66 as a guest after almost half a year and later made cameo appearances in several episodes. After School's Lizzy was initially a guest for episodes 13 and 14, later joining in episode 18 as an official member. However, she left the show after episode 25 due to schedule conflicts with her group activities. She later returned as a guest in episode 292, 5 years since her last appearance. On October 25, 2016, Gary announced his departure from the show in November to focus on his music career after being with Running Man for 6 years, but later returned as a guest a week after his final recording, and again in January 2017.
On April 3, 2017, it was confirmed through various media outlets that Running Man would add actress Jeon So-min and comedian Yang Se-chan to the cast. On April 27, 2021, Lee Kwang-soo announced his departure to focus on his treatment and recovery from a car accident, becoming the third original cast member to leave the show. On October 23, 2023, Jeon So-min decided to leave Running Man six years after joining the show to focus on her acting career, but later returned as a guest in episode 736, 14 months since her last appearance, and again in episode 774.
On May 14, 2024, SBS announced that actor Kang Hoon was added to the Running Man cast as the show's first rental member after his recent appearance as a guest on episode 701. On July 8, Kang Hoon recorded his last episode as a rental member before the Olympic season, with SBS announcing that they had discussed about his future appearance schedule after the Olympics. He later returned as a guest in episode 734, 5 months since his last appearance. On December 23, it was announced that Ji Ye-eun became an official Running Man member starting from episode 733 after her role as a rental member since episode 711. On March 24, 2025, it was announced that actor Choi Daniel joined the Running Man as the show's third rental member after his guest appearance in episode 742. On August 26, it was announced by CP Entertainment that Ji Ye-eun had temporarily paused her activities due to her health issues. On October 20, her agency announced that she had returned to the filming episode of Running Man that was aired on November 2. On December 14, 2025, Choi Daniel recorded his last episode as a rental member.

Production staff

The staff run the games, often showing up on camera either by actively participating in the game or influencing the outcome of various missions. This includes the personal cameramen, production directors, floor directors, stylists, boom operators, etc.
At the show's inception, chief producer Nam Seung-yong was responsible for the production of the program, with PDs Jo Hyo-jin, Im Hyung-taek, and Kim Joo-hyung mainly responsible for the directing and production of the recordings of the program. Other PDs have joined the program to assist as the program shifts from a single landmark to multiple locations for recording, notably Hwang Seon-man, Jeong Cheol-min, and Lee Hwan-jin. FD Go Dong-wan assisted in the recordings of the program and was known to be shown on camera many times, as well as delivering and assisting the members in missions. Producer Kim Joo-hyung has left the show as of episode 182, as he was reassigned to Inkigayo.
Each member has their own personal cameramen who follow them around exclusively during recordings. Notable cameramen include Ryu Kwon-ryeol, Kim Yoo-seok, Choi Yoon-sang, Yoon Sung-yong, Sung Gyu, Jo Seong-Oh, Kim Ki-jin, and Ji Bong-jo.
On November 19, 2014, the show's head director, Jo Hyo-jin, announced his departure from the show after working with the members for four years. On March 20, 2016, the show's main PD, Im Hyung-taek left the show, as he became the producer of Hurry Up, Brother, resulting in new generation PDs to take over, notably PD Lee Hwan-jin, PD Jeong Cheol-min, and PD Park Yong-woo. FD Go Dong-wan also announced his leave via his Instagram.
On July 3, 2016, SBS confirmed the return of producer Kim Joo-hyung to the show. That same month, it was confirmed that he would become the new main PD of the show. However, PD Kim Joo-hyung announced his departure from the show shortly after. Subsequently, PD Lee Hwan-jin took over as the main PD of Running Man until March 2017. In April 2017, PD Jeong Cheol-min took over from PD Lee Hwan-Jin as the show's main PD.
In July 2018, PD Jeong Cheol-min took a break and PD Lee Hwan-jin temporarily took over as main PD of the show. PD Jeong returned in May 2019 replacing PD Lee, leading the show till February 5, 2020, where he left the show and SBS. His role was taken over by PD Choi Bo-pil.
On August 1, 2022, SBS announced that PD Choi Bo-pil would be leaving the show. He was replaced by PD Choi Hyung-in, the first female production director in the show's history.
On December 14, 2025, SBS announced that PD Choi Hyung-in would be leaving the show due to her pregnancy and want to focus on her family, with PD Kang Hyung-seon taking over the role as the main PD.

Guests with the most appearances

Aside from guests who became permanent cast members, or former cast members who were once guests, or even guests who were temporary rental members, some guests were occasionally featured or invited to the show during its run. The following list is of guests who appeared the most often as of January 25, 2026.

Rank	Name	No. of episodes	Episodes	Occupation
1		36	736, 742, 747-761, 763-781	Actor
2		23	707, 709, 710-718, 721-732	Actress
3		22	343, 380, 392–396, 399–400, 406–408, 426–427, 476–477, 480, 486, 490–491, 509, 702	Actress
4		20	205, 221, 266, 299, 356–357, 392–396, 399–400, 406–408, 439, 442, 469, 499	Singer
5		18	202–203, 339, 390–392, 477–478, 483–484, 490–491, 642, 708-709, 743, 779-780	Comedian
5		18	649, 654–655, 669–670, 697, 701, 706-714, 734, 781	Actor
7		17	305, 360–361, 367–368, 374–375, 499, 510, 550, 594, 606–607, 630, 654–655, 687	Comedian
8		16	381, 390–396, 399–400, 406–408, 415, 453, 509	Actor
9		15	202–203, 255, 344, 372, 458–459, 467–469, 500, 529–530, 611, 785	Member of Apink
10		13	150, 239, 305, 317, 637, 656, 685, 686, 688, 693–694, 695, 701	MMA Fighter
10		13	162, 202–203, 356–357, 360–361, 424, 458–459, 467–469	Former member of Apink