[Sportschosun Reporter Jo Min-jung] YouTuber Kim Seon-tae, formerly known as "Chungju Man" and boasting 1.65 million subscribers, revealed the bitter reality of facing a shortage of work compounded by employee resignations. He candidly shared how his situation has changed to the point where he bowed deeply to advertisers and said, "I have to make a living."
Recently, a video titled "Promoting Kim Sun-tae" was released on Kim Sun-tae's personal YouTube channel. In the video, when asked how he has been doing lately, Kim replied, "As you know, I am just getting through each day." When asked about his recent workload, he said, "There isn't much," adding, "It is technically peak season, but for us, it feels like a cold winter has arrived."
The company's internal situation was not comfortable either. Kim Sun-tae revealed that one of the employees assisting him had recently expressed their intention to resign. Referring to the movie *Titanic*, he joked, "Aren't mice the first to get out of the ship? It's about survival," but behind the laughter lay the heavy concerns of a CEO who must lead a company. Kim Sun-tae admitted that while he does not believe his treatment of employees was poor, it may not have been satisfactory from their perspective. He added, "Running a company is a heavy burden. Couldn't we close down at any moment?" expressing that a high number of subscribers on his personal YouTube channel does not guarantee stable business operations.
He has also started reconsidering lecture offers that he had previously declined. Kim Sun-tae revealed that while he had turned down various lecture requests to focus on YouTube content production, he is now considering lecturing, stating that "circumstances have changed." He added a realistic assessment that lecturing might not be a bad idea, seeing his recent updates being reported through various media outlets.
During the introduction of his current advertising work, he even bowed deeply to the client. Kim Sun-tae bowed his head and said, "Actually, I've been a bit arrogant lately. I intend to regain my original mindset and work with earnestness." When asked why he accepted an advertisement with difficult terms, he replied, "I have to make a living," eliciting both laughter and a sense of bitterness.
Kim Seon-tae, who went out to personally purchase a recorder needed for advertising content, simply settled for tteokbokki for lunch. Regarding his choice of tteokbokki over a proper meal, he explained that he felt he needed to cut down on expenses and had lost his appetite recently. He also spoke up about malicious comments. Kim Seon-tae stated that he had consulted with a lawyer regarding the issue and warned online trolls that they should be careful. However, regarding actual legal action, he drew a line for now, saying, "Filing a lawsuit is too unsightly. I am nobody."
Kim Seon-tae joined Chungju City as a Grade 9 civil servant in 2016 and earned the nickname "Chungju Man" while operating the official YouTube channel "Chung TV." He grew Chung TV into a channel with over 900,000 subscribers through low-cost, high-efficiency content that broke the mold of traditional local government promotional materials, and in recognition of his contributions, he received a special promotion to Grade 6 in 2024. However, he ended his public service career last February and made a fresh start as an individual YouTuber. Although he seemed to have succeeded in a spectacular solo career as his personal channel surpassed 1 million subscribers immediately after launch, he faced a crisis last July due to a controversy surrounding the KBS YouTube original variety show "Don Seon-tae: The Era of Success."
At the time, Kim Sun-tae faced criticism for inducing Won-i, a member of the girl group Risenne, to mention the "Museopno" dialect controversy again in his content, even though she was already suffering from the controversy that had spread to political circles. As criticism of "secondary victimization" poured in from viewers, Kim Sun-tae admitted his incompetence, apologized, and voluntarily stepped down from the program. KBS also canceled the pre-release video and future broadcasts.
Reporter Jo Min-jeong mj.cho@sportschosun.com
This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.
