A parody video of "Chuno Man" produced by the YouTube channel ChungTV of Chungju, North Chungcheong Province, is drawing attention. The video, produced after Assistant Deputy Director Kim Seon-tae of "Chungju Man" expressed an intention to resign, racked up high views in a short time, slowing the decline in ChungTV subscribers.
According to Chungju on the 19th, ChungTV had about 750,000 subscribers. The subscriber count had topped 970,000, but more than 210,000 unsubscribed after news on the 13th of Assistant Deputy Director Kim Seon-tae's resignation.
Then, on the 17th, the day before Lunar New Year, ChungTV posted a 46-second "Chuno" video, and the wave of unsubscribes eased somewhat. Assistant Deputy Director Choi Ji-ho of the new media team, where Kim, the Head of Team, had worked, parodied Lee Dae-gil (played by Jang Hyuk) from the drama "Chuno," who mourned the loss of a colleague, staging a scene of breaking down in tears while eating a hard-boiled egg.
As a parody capturing the team's mood after Kim, the Assistant Deputy Director, expressed an intention to resign, it became a hot topic. Within two days of posting, the video topped 3.22 million views.
The Director for Public Relations' new media team was newly created in January last year, and three people, including Assistant Deputy Director Kim Seon-tae and Assistant Deputy Director Choi, have produced more than 500 videos to date.
Assistant Deputy Director Choi entered public service in December 2020 and worked in the architecture division, then joined the new media team in January last year at Kim's suggestion and is in charge of content production and operations.
Launched in April 2019, ChungTV gained popularity with short-form planning centered on Assistant Deputy Director Kim, its unique "B-grade" sensibility, and on-the-spot editing. As this strategy worked, subscribers topped 500,000 in Nov. 2023, 700,000 in Apr. 2024, and 900,000 in Sept. last year.
Then, as it became known that Assistant Deputy Director Kim submitted a resignation letter to the personnel department on the 13th, right before the Lunar New Year holiday, subscribers, which had exceeded 970,000, fell by more than 200,000 during the holiday period.
Director for Public Relations Park Tae-soon said, "Not a few internal personnel in Chungju City are capable public officials," and added, "We will operate ChungTV stably based on the production experience and know-how accumulated within the organization."