[Sportschosun | Cho Min-jeong] YouTuber Park We’s channel has continued to decline after falling below the 1 million-subscriber mark. As the controversy that began with a KTX fall-accident video drags on, past content—from an interview filmed with OneshotHansol to a trip to Kenya with his wife, Song Ji-eun—is being dug up one after another.
As of the afternoon of the 14th, the YouTube channel Weracle, operated by Park We, had approximately 947,000 subscribers. Compared with the roughly 1.01 million subscribers it had before the controversy, more than 60,000 people have left the channel. The decline appeared to have halted at around 950,000 as recently as the 10th, but the subscriber count fell below that level again as old videos spread online once more.
The incident began with a fall accident on a KTX train last month. On August 14, Park We fell forward while getting off the train in his wheelchair after colliding with a social service worker who was holding a portable ramp in place with his foot. On the 21st of last month, Park We released CCTV footage of the accident and images of staff at the scene on YouTube.
However, after it became known that there was no evidence the accident had been caused deliberately and that the social service worker had apologized at the scene, criticism emerged that a creator with 1 million subscribers had excessively exposed an individual’s mistake to the public. Park We made the video private and apologized, saying, "I viewed the mistake that occurred in the process of trying to help me better only in a negative light," but public sentiment did not easily subside.
As the controversy continued, people online also began revisiting Park We’s past content. One video that resurfaced was a 2021 interview posted on the YouTube channel OneshotHansol under the title "I Didn’t Know This Would Be Dangerous Then." In the video, Park We discussed how he was diagnosed with complete paralysis after a fall in 2014, the diagnosis he received from doctors at the time, and his life after becoming disabled. The video received more than 7 million views and widespread support when it was released, but it is now being watched again to verify Park We’s earlier account of the accident and his remarks.
A video of Park We’s visit to Kenya with Song Ji-eun has also come under scrutiny. It shows local staff carrying Park We’s wheelchair and helping him move along unpaved roads and narrow paths. Some online users criticized the situation, saying, "Didn’t he go there to volunteer, only to receive help instead?"
Meanwhile, Park We married singer Song Ji-eun, formerly of the group Secret, in 2024 and has communicated with the public through his YouTube channel Weracle.
Cho Min-jeong, Reporter mj.cho@sportschosun.com
This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.
