This could reasonably be called the "Kim Seon" syndrome. Kim Seon-tae, famous as the former "Chungju man," proved explosive interest by surpassing 900,000 subscribers just three days after opening his personal YouTube channel.
Kim Seon-tae launched a YouTube channel bearing his name and began full activities on the 3rd. The channel uploaded a profile image drawn by travel YouTuber PaniBottle along with the description "I promote everything in the world," and announced a new start with a short first video titled "I am Kim Seon-tae."
As soon as news of the channel opening spread, subscribers exploded. After surpassing 600,000 in one day, the subscriber count stood at 925,000 as of the morning of the second day, the 5th. Considering the current rate of increase, analysts say reaching 1 million subscribers is a matter of time.
What is particularly striking is that Kim Seon-tae's channel quickly exceeded the subscriber count of his former employer, the official Chungju city YouTube channel. The Chungju city channel currently has about 774,000 subscribers, and Kim Seon-tae surpassed that three days after launching his channel.
After Kim Seon-tae left Chungju city, the city's channel subscribers once fell by more than 200,000, but they are currently holding at the 770,000 range. By contrast, Kim Seon-tae's personal channel has shown explosive short-term growth and is asserting its presence.
Regarding the rapidly growing subscriber count, Kim Seon-tae gave a cautious response. In a phone call with OSEN on the 4th, he said, "I am grateful for the unexpected amount of love. However, it also feels somewhat like a bubble," expressing a guarded stance.
He added, "It seems a bit overheated right now. I don't think it's time to laugh prematurely, so I will avoid becoming complacent."
On the direction of future content, he said, "I haven't decided anything exactly yet," and added, "I want to try promoting various things, whether people or objects, tangible or intangible, without being limited to a specific field."
Meanwhile, as interest in Kim Seon-tae has grown, corporate love calls have followed. Several companies, including Binggrae, Norang Tongdak, Hanatour, Hansol Education Corp., and Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC), have reportedly proposed collaborations and are paying attention to the "Kim Seon-tae effect."
[photo] OSEN DB, video capture
[OSEN]