"The industry's first Gold Button," "the industry's first Triple Button (one Gold, two Silver)"!
Those are the flashy labels attached to the YouTube channel operated by KIWOOM Securities, which has maintained the No. 1 market share in the domestic stock market for the past several years.
Channel K, KIWOOM Securities' official YouTube channel, surpassed 1 million subscribers in March 2021 and received a Gold Button, the first such achievement in the securities industry. More recently, its brand subchannels, Channel K Global by Kiwoom Securities, with 104,000 subscribers, and Kiwoom Heroes Investment Competition 2026, with 172,000 subscribers, each topped 100,000 subscribers and earned Silver Buttons.
To mark the milestone, KIWOOM Securities has been running a large thank-you event for subscribers since the middle of last month. Given the current trend across industries of using YouTube to produce content for brand promotion and marketing, KIWOOM Securities appears to be making effective use of the platform in the securities sector.
But a closer look raises questions. The channel was the first in the industry to reach 1 million subscribers, thanks to its early lead, yet it has struggled to grow since then. Channel K now has 1.69 million subscribers. In the 63 months since it crossed the 1 million mark, it has added only about 690,000 more.
By contrast, latecomers such as Samsung Securities, with 3.05 million subscribers, Mirae Asset Securities, with 2.48 million, and NH Investment & Securities, with 2.24 million, had already surpassed 2 million subscribers long ago. Samsung Securities' official YouTube channel stood at around 2.7 million subscribers at the end of last year, then broke through 3 million this year and became the clear industry leader. That stands in sharp contrast to KIWOOM Securities, whose subscriber count fell from 1.74 million at the end of last year to around 1.69 million this year.
As a result, the company has slipped from a leading position in the YouTube ecosystem to roughly fourth place. That suggests KIWOOM Securities may have reduced the role of YouTube content in its public relations and marketing strategy. An industry source said, "Fueled by the bullish domestic stock market, customer demand for stock information is higher than ever. In this environment, YouTube content is resonating not only with the MZ Generation but with customers of all ages. That is why the industry is paying close attention to this area." This is one reason later entrants have overtaken KIWOOM Securities in subscriber numbers.
Still, KIWOOM Securities does not appear to view the situation as particularly serious. Although it has long lost the lead in subscribers, the company says it has no separate countermeasures in place. It does not want to obsess over subscriber counts, but some may see that stance as a rather complacent approach to communication with customers.
A KIWOOM Securities official emphasized the channel's distinction, saying, "Channel K by Kiwoom Securities is one of the leading investment information channels in the securities industry, with strong influence." The official added, "While other securities firms focus more on macroeconomic trends or basic explanations for beginners, KIWOOM Securities concentrates on practical investment strategies that individual investors can use immediately in trading."
The official also said, "The channel's subscriber count has not suddenly dropped. Of course, it would be nice if it grew rapidly, but that number can go up and down. That is why we are not planning any special events or strategies just to increase subscribers." The official added, "Subscriber numbers matter, but rather than focusing on increasing them directly, we are concentrating on making better content so that growth happens naturally."
As for why the main channel, Channel K, has grown slowly, the company pointed to its multi-channel strategy.
The official explained, "In addition to the main channel, we operate specialized channels tailored to investors' interests and provide in-depth information." The official continued, "Channel K Global focuses exclusively on content for overseas stock investors, including U.S. stocks, as well as global market trends. Its strengths are real-time U.S. market briefings and analysis of promising companies for Korean individual investors investing in overseas stocks. The Kiwoom Heroes Investment Competition 2026 channel is a trading-focused channel that covers content related to the live investment competition and the trading patterns of top-ranked participants. By diversifying our channels in this way, we have built a broad subscriber base large enough to hold multiple Silver Buttons and Gold Buttons at the same time."
However, questions remain over whether the multi-channel strategy has truly attracted subscribers on a broad scale. Even if the subscriber counts for Channel K and the two Silver Button subchannels are added together, the total still falls short of 2 million. That makes the title of "the industry's first Gold Button" look increasingly hollow.
Lee Won-man, Sportschosun
