The aftershock of the resignation of 'Chungju Man' Assistant Deputy Director Kim Seon-tae, who had run Chungju city's official YouTube channel, has subsided.
Assistant Deputy Director Kim Seon-tae, who handled YouTube content production and channel management and earned the nickname 'Chungju Man,' submitted his resignation to the personnel department on the 13th and then began extended leave. Assistant Deputy Director Kim Seon-tae used vacation through the 28th and is expected to be dismissed from his council position thereafter, and it is reported he submitted his resignation because he wanted to pursue a new challenge.
Subscribers plunged at the news of the resignation of Assistant Deputy Director Kim Seon-tae, who had been like the 'main body' of Chungju city's official YouTube channel. The Chungju city YouTube channel, which had risen to 970,000 subscribers and was approaching 1 million, lost 220,000 subscribers in five days and now has 751,000 subscribers.
Rumors about Assistant Deputy Director Kim Seon-tae also contributed to the wingless fall. In response, Assistant Deputy Director Kim Seon-tae posted on the 16th, during the Lunar New Year holiday, saying, "My resignation was a decision made after personal goal achievement and consideration of future new challenges, and it is not because of conflict with any particular individual or organization. I am only grateful to the fellow public servants I have worked with and to the citizens."
Nevertheless, subscribers canceled their subscriptions, disappointed by a Chungju city YouTube channel without its 'main body.' When more than 200,000 people left in less than a week, Assistant Deputy Director Choi Ji-ho, Kim Seon-tae's successor, stepped forward on the 17th. Assistant Deputy Director Choi Ji-ho released a short video called 'Chuno' showing himself eating as if he had lost his mind, which, coupled with Kim Seon-tae's resignation and the subscriber exodus, provoked pity.
Comments on the video included reactions such as "Assistant Deputy Director Ji-ho with a bleak future," "Ji-ho who misses the head of team," "How chaotic must it be for a public official to post something like this on a holiday," "That person must be frustrated too," "I unsubscribed but resubscribed because I thought of Assistant Deputy Director Ji-ho," and "He didn't say a word but it's touching and funny."
The backlash from 'Assistant Deputy Director Kim Seon-tae's resignation' was strong enough to spill into the entertainment industry. Actor Park Jeongmin, whom Assistant Deputy Director Kim Seon-tae met last, appeared on a radio show and spoke about reactions to the resignation. Park Jeongmin said he readily accepted the offer to be Chungju city's promotional ambassador, but felt deeply betrayed when news of the resignation came a day after two videos featuring him were released. Park Jeongmin said, "Chungju Man made me the promotional ambassador and then submitted his resignation. I went on YouTube and did that, and even put the Chungju mascot on my phone, but he submitted his resignation," drawing laughter.
The aftershock eased after successor Assistant Deputy Director Choi Ji-ho took the stage. After conveying his current feelings and situation in a short video, the falling subscriber numbers, which had seemed endless, have now calmed. As of 9 a.m. on the 18th, Chungju city's official YouTube channel had 751,000 subscribers.<
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