Award-winning South Korean actor Yoo Yeon Seok has just come clean about his privileged upbringing, confessing that he was born into the sort of "golden spoon" family that Koreans fondly refer to as such — that is, a family brought up in wealth and comfort.

As reported by Koreaboo, the actor guested on the hit YouTube talk show "Pinggyego" on October 6 (KST), where he openly talked about his family's special traditions and heritage.

At one point, he recounted a funny anecdote about the nicknames assigned to each other by his family members.

Playfully, he added, "My mother would go to bed early and then wake up suddenly at 10 or 11 p.m. for a late night snack. That's why we called her 'Midnight Meal.' My father liked to have drinks with his friends, so we called him 'The Soju Drinking Professor."

When laughter filled the studio, host Yoo Jae Suk asked a follow-up question regarding his father's actual occupation.

Yoo confirmed, stating, "My father was a professor of engineering, and my mother was a painter."

Yoo Yeon Seok also described how he was raised in Seoul's Gangnam 8th school district in an article on Edaily, which is known as the most elite and cutthroat academic area in South Korea. This information added to the actor's previous claims of being raised privileged as an elite.

Yoo's openness about his family's standing in society surprised many viewers, because he is often known to come off more like a regular person in the entertainment space.

Even so, fans were drawn to his charm and humor as he spoke, and they appreciated him being frank.

This isn't the first time Yoo has candidly expressed thoughts about his family life. He had also done this during his previous dialogue with a variety show, in May 2025, where he discussed his father's job having an important role in how strict he was raised, and his oldest brother was a professor of maths.

When seeing and reading online, internet followers cheered and were shocked by Yoo's candid description.

Most of them highlighted how his humble disposition is not consistent with his privileged background and successful career.

The news has ignited conversations on the net about class struggle in entertainment world, with most sentiments were positive, congratulating the actor for being honest who he is and not trying cover it up.