Former Assistant Deputy Director Kim Seon-tae of the Chungju City Hall in North Chungcheong Province has opened a YouTube channel, and its number of subscribers has surpassed that of Chungju City's official YouTube channel, "Chung TV." It came two days after Kim, who was active on Chung TV as "Chungju Man," launched a personal YouTube channel.
At 4:55 p.m. on the 4th, the YouTube channel Kim Seon-tae run by former Assistant Deputy Director Kim had 776,000 subscribers. At the same time, Chung TV had about 1,000 fewer subscribers, at 775,000.
Former Assistant Deputy Director Kim opened the channel Kim Seon-tae on the 2nd, and as news of the launch spread starting the day before, the subscriber count rose quickly. In particular, buzz intensified when Chung TV left a comment reading "Seon-tae, my Seon-tae" on the first video Kim uploaded to the channel Kim Seon-tae. Chung TV is currently operated by Choi Ji-ho, an Assistant Deputy Director on Chungju City's New Media Team and Kim's successor.
In the first video, which surpassed 3.6 million views, former Assistant Deputy Director Kim explained why he quit life as "Chungju Man." Kim said, "The biggest reason for leaving is that I want to make more money," adding, "(Chung TV) reached the goal of 1 million subscribers, and I thought I had done my part at that point."
Regarding speculation that he quit because of public service culture, former Assistant Deputy Director Kim denied it, saying, "Not at all." Kim added, "I wasn't ostracized, and city hall officials helped me a lot," and said, "What I was in charge of was unprecedented, and since I was doing something new in public service, there must have been parts that didn't fit the organization, but many people still helped."
Former Assistant Deputy Director Kim joined the civil service in 2016 at grade 9 and was promoted to grade 6 after making Chung TV a success. Last month, Kim submitted a resignation letter and was processed for voluntary resignation.