YouTuber Who Does Anything for Money, Police Struggle to Handle Protests and Demonstrations

Personal Channel Operation 'Current Affairs YouTuber'
Broadcasting Rallies and More for 'Super Chat' Earnings
More Violent Scenes Lead to Increased Donations
Personal Profit Motive... Difficult to Respond

On the 9th, Hangul Day, the police controlled the area around Gwanghwamun Square to block sudden gatherings and demonstrations in the city center, while a conservative YouTuber attempting to enter the square was being stopped. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] "We are not participants in the rally, so why are you restraining us?"

This is a scene frequently seen recently at rallies and protests. YouTubers who visit rallies, protests, and press conferences holding smartphones or cameras habitually utter these words whenever clashes with the police occur. Most of them are so-called ‘current affairs YouTubers’ running personal channels.

It is also common for YouTubers with excessive political bias to visit rally and protest sites to broadcast videos. They also attend press conferences held by civic groups to broadcast videos and encourage support from their supporters and viewers. Many openly display donation account information in their videos.

Their main source of income is YouTube’s ‘Super Chat’ feature. This service allows viewers of live broadcasts to pay money to pin or highlight their comments, similar to the ‘star balloon’ system on one-person broadcasting platforms. To use this feature, the YouTuber must be at least 18 years old and have more than 1,000 subscribers. Super Chats usually occur during the most provocative moments in live streams. On one current affairs YouTube channel, Super Chats amounting to tens of millions of won were sent during the broadcast of a recording involving ‘First Lady’ Kim Geon-hee.

According to the YouTube statistics site ‘Playboard,’ last week (May 30?June 5), three of the top five domestic Super Chat channels were current affairs channels. ‘IQ Channel 2’ ranked first with 21.1 million won, ‘This is Kang Yong-seok’ ranked fourth with 14.3 million won, and ‘Open Sympathy TV’ ranked fifth with 13.49 million won. On the ‘This is Kang Yong-seok’ channel, more than 14 million won in Super Chats were sent the day after the 8th local elections on June 2.

Rally sites of far-right groups, far-left groups, and labor organizations are a ‘gold mine’ for them. A current affairs YouTuber who requested anonymity said, "I have fewer than 10,000 subscribers, but if a violent scene occurs at a rally, donations of tens of thousands of won sometimes pour in," adding, "This is why YouTubers inevitably outnumber reporters at the scene."

Legal and administrative sanctions against them are difficult. A police official said, "In the past, there were many group movements to enforce their organizations’ demands, and most rallies and protests were violent, but recently, although the numbers are small, many YouTubers act for personal profit," adding, "It is true that the diversity in the tendencies and methods of rally and protest participants has made on-site response more difficult."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.