Actor Im Joo-hwan's having worked as a day laborer at a Coupang logistics center during a hiatus has come to light belatedly, and he has also attracted attention for conducting live broadcasts on social media using TikTok. Likewise, Park Si-Hoo, who has long been active with social media live broadcasts, is also drawing attention.
On the 27th, agency Basecamp Company told OSEN regarding eyewitness accounts of Im Joo-hwan working at a Coupang logistics center, "Mr. Im Joo-hwan has past experience working at a Coupang logistics center," the agency said in an official statement. The actor's down-to-earth actions have drawn encouragement, and at the same time TikTok social media live broadcasts are drawing attention.
On the evening of the 26th, when eyewitness accounts of his time at Coupang were a hot topic on social media, Im Joo-hwan used TikTok to conduct a joint broadcast with other BJ users. Competing in real time to see how much response they could get from fans, among the four-person lineup Im Joo-hwan's presence clearly attracted the attention of internet users.
Sources say Im Joo-hwan is not currently working as a day laborer at a Coupang logistics center and is preparing his next project. In the meantime, it is understood that he has been using social media to communicate with fans and share updates. In fact, his most recent work was the play Pride, which closed on Daehak-ro in June last year.
At the same time, attention is being paid to the fact that, besides Im Joo-hwan, actor Park Si-Hoo has also been actively communicating with fans through TikTok live. Rumors have circulated such as "they earn hundreds of millions of won just by greeting viewers on live" and "they make more than 500 million won a month from TikTok live." However, those claims are not true. In this regard, a close associate of Park Si-Hoo told OSEN that it is "a channel for communicating with overseas fans whom he cannot meet often."
In fact, many TikTok users are known to be overseas users from countries such as China and the United States. It appears that live broadcasts by actors are mainly conducted to communicate with overseas fans rather than domestic ones.
The problem is that there are also some biased views criticizing the actions of Im Joo-hwan and Park Si-Hoo. Because both Im Joo-hwan and Park Si-Hoo have played leading roles in works, they are criticized on the grounds that they easily generate revenue by leveraging their fame.
Of course, live broadcasts by some BJs that reach the level of criminal behavior or do not respect standards should be guarded against. However, if content standards are maintained in live broadcasts, the structure is not fundamentally different from other social media lives or YouTube Live super chats, only the platform differs.
Ultimately, TikTok live for people like Im Joo-hwan and Park Si-Hoo should be interpreted as a channel to communicate freely and directly with overseas fans. In fact, the drama and film market has continued to slump and the number of works has sharply declined. In this context, there is heated debate over the double standard of cheering for day labor at a Coupang logistics center while criticizing social media live broadcasts. <
[Photo] OSEN DB, source: SNS.
[OSEN]