EXO's D.O. and Shin Ye-eun Bond Over Horse Ranch Chaos in tvN Variety Hit

Actress Shin Ye-eun has joined tvN's rural variety hit "Kong Kong Farm Farm," and her arrival gave co-star Doh Kyung-soo of EXO a clear reason to smile. The fifth episode of the show, whose full title translates to "Where You Plant Beans, Beans Grow: Wanna-Go, Wanna-Do Animal Farm," aired on the 17th and followed Shin as the newest intern at the fictional "KKPP Foods."

The episode drew strong numbers. According to Nielsen Korea's paid platform data, it averaged 2.7 percent nationwide with a peak of 3.8 percent, and 3.2 percent in the Seoul metropolitan area with a peak of 4.6 percent. The show topped its time slot across cable and general-programming channels for a fifth straight week. It also ranked No. 1 in its slot among viewers ages 20 to 49, both nationally and in the metro area.

In the episode, Shin joined Lee Kwang-soo and Doh for hands-on training at a horse ranch. Lee was paired with a horse named Jon Snow, while Doh took on the notoriously picky Maurice. Doh bonded with Maurice almost right away. Lee had a rougher time, sweating through Jon Snow's refusal to listen. He eventually switched to a smaller horse named Yeon-jin, only to watch Jon Snow follow the ranch's senior staff without any trouble. He could only laugh.

The day did not go entirely to plan. Horses let out into a new pasture followed their homing instinct and slipped out all at once. Thanks to quick moves from the trainees and ranch staff, every horse came back safely and the situation wrapped up fast.

After hours, Lee and Doh delivered one of the episode's biggest laughs by trying to sell horse-manure compost on a secondhand marketplace app. They set their username to "Yeon-jin's Dad," used AI to help draft the sales pitch, and Lee added a twist by claiming the compost was the same growing soil that raised the magic beans from "Jack and the Beanstalk."

The next day brought Shin to the ranch. She changed into ranch clothes and made an entrance by acting like a shady stranger, drawing laughs from the cast. When she heard that a customer had responded to the compost listing with just the number "1," she deadpanned, "Isn't this the number game?"

No one welcomed the new arrival more warmly than Doh. "I'm going to keep giving her things to do," he joked. "Someone finally showed up who I can order around and talk to however I want." Shin leaned into the bit, addressing Doh by his title while casually slipping into informal speech, a mix that became a running gag.

The two also disagreed on what to name a baby pony. Shin suggested "Kong-pam-i," a nod to the show's title. Doh pushed back with "Doni," combining the "Do" from his own name with the "ni" from pony. "In my heart, it's Doni," he said. Doh, born in 1993, is five years older than Shin, who was born in 1998.

The trainees also pitched in on real ranch work, preparing special meals for pregnant horses and helping with health checkups. One moment stood out. Shin, who played the villain Park Yeon-jin in the Netflix series "The Glory," came face to face with the troublemaking horse named Yeon-jin. As the horse ignored her instructions, her reaction briefly channeled her old character, and the cast could not stop laughing.