Kang Ho Dong Steps Down From ‘The Great Escape’ as New Season Cast Is Confirmed

Kang Ho Dong will not return for the next season of The Great Escape, bringing an end to an eight-year run on the Korean adventure-variety franchise. The veteran host had been part of the program from its first season, making his departure one of the most notable changes in the newly announced lineup.

The next installment is scheduled for release on TVING in the second half of 2026. It will continue the show’s familiar mix of large-scale missions, team problem-solving and story-led escape scenarios while assembling a revised group of entertainers and performers around its core format.

A founding presence leaves the series

Since the program began in 2018, Kang Ho Dong has been a central presence in its ensemble. His role as the group’s senior member helped anchor a format that often asks cast members to navigate elaborate rooms, decode clues and make decisions under pressure. The show’s changing scenarios allowed the cast’s chemistry to develop over several seasons rather than relying on a single recurring setting.

In a message shared after the cast announcement, Kang reflected on the happiness he found through his time on the program and voiced encouragement for the team taking on the new season. He also returned to one of the show’s essential ideas: that a clue can be found somewhere in every challenge. The message framed his exit as support for the program’s next chapter rather than a farewell to its audience.

The Great Escape built a distinctive place in Korean variety programming through its immersive design. Its missions have typically blended mystery, survival-style tasks and theatrical world-building, with sets and narratives that ask participants to approach each episode as a shared investigation. That scale has made continuity in the cast especially meaningful to viewers who followed the group from season to season.

Returning members and a new face

The upcoming season will include Yoo Byung Jae, Kim Dong Hyun and Go Kyung Pyo, all of whom are set to return. Kim Jong Min and Shindong, original cast members who had previously left the series, are also joining the new lineup. Their return reconnects the project with several of the personalities associated with its earlier years.

SEVENTEEN’s Seungkwan has been confirmed as a new member of the cast. Known for his quick reactions and broad experience in entertainment programs, he enters a setting where performance depends as much on communication and observation as it does on finding a physical way out. The new season will give viewers a chance to see how his style fits within a team already shaped by long-running relationships.

Yeo Jin Goo will not be part of the next season. Together with Kang Ho Dong’s departure, that decision marks a substantial reshaping of the lineup, even as the returning members preserve a connection to the series’ history. The combination of returning originals, continuing players and a first-time participant signals an effort to balance familiarity with a different group dynamic.

A new chapter for a large-scale format

The franchise previously ran for four seasons before expanding with The Great Escape: The Story as a TVING original. That evolution gave the property a broader platform while retaining the detailed puzzles and narrative scale that define it. The newly confirmed season is expected to carry that legacy forward with another set of high-concept missions.

Cast changes are a natural turning point for a program built on teamwork. Kang Ho Dong’s years on the show leave a clear legacy, while the returning members and Seungkwan now have the task of establishing a new rhythm inside its demanding escape scenarios. With the premiere planned for later this year, the next season will reveal how that refreshed ensemble approaches the clues, pressure and imagination at the heart of The Great Escape.