Minister Kim Young-hoon of the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) has become a "silver button" YouTuber. His personal YouTube channel, "Kim Young-hoon TV," recently surpassed 100,000 subscribers. The channel is separate from the ministry's official YouTube.
When you become a silver button YouTuber, you receive a plaque with a silver YouTube logo along with a letter signed by the YouTube CEO. There are about 10,000 officially recognized silver button YouTubers in Korea, which is known to be about 5% of all YouTubers. Once subscribers surpass 100,000, the frequency of exposure through the algorithm increases. For YouTubers pursuing profit, it is said to significantly help revenue.
Minister Kim Young-hoon's YouTube channel was launched at the end of July last year and received the silver button in just six months. Considering that it takes an average of 51 months to reach 100,000 subscribers, the Minister obtained the silver button in less than one-eighth of that time.
Even compared with past Ministers, the growth speed of the Minister's YouTube channel stands out. Cases of a Minister's personal YouTube channel surpassing 100,000 subscribers include former Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong (currently 298,000) and former Minister of the labor ministry Kim Moon-soo (410,000). At the vice minister level, Saemangeum Development and Investment Agency chief Kim Eui-kyeom's personal YouTube channel has about 120,000 subscribers. However, they differ from the Minister in that they had run YouTube channels for a long period since their political days.
Minister Kim Young-hoon appears on the YouTube channel in a "star instructor" format and uploads videos that explain complex issues in simple terms. These include "A clear guide to employment contracts" and "Setting the record straight on the yellow envelope law (Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act amendment)." Short-form "Shorts" videos, edited to under one minute and popular with Millennials and Gen Z, also frequently appear on the Minister's channel. Examples include "A Minister popular with foreign correspondents," "Myungvengers" (a portmanteau of the Lee Jae-myung administration and Avengers), and "Minister Kim Young-hoon's on-the-road New Year's kickoff ceremony."
An official at the labor ministry said, "The Minister drew a lot of attention from the time of the nomination because of the background as a railroad engineer," and added, "Explaining policy language in everyday terms seems to have become an advantage with the public." An official from another ministry said, "As standout remarks by the Minister, such as 'I will stake my position on preventing industrial accidents,' were broadcast live at Cabinet meetings presided over by the president, name recognition seems to have increased."
Meanwhile, as Minister Kim Young-hoon's personal YouTube channel gains popularity, it is expected to soon overtake the subscriber count of the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL)'s official channel, which has been run for 15 years. The ministry's official channel was launched in 2011 and currently has 133,000 subscribers. Since it took six months for the Minister's personal channel to gain 100,000 subscribers, calculations suggest that in another two months it could secure a subscriber base similar to the ministry's official channel.