Former Chungju Man Kim Seontae to Appear on MBC Local Election Broadcast, Expected to Address Regional Decline Issues

Issues of Metropolitan Concentration to Be Addressed

Kim Seontae, known as "Chungju Man," who led the official YouTube channel "ChungTV" of Chungju City, North Chungcheong Province, before leaving public service, will appear on MBC's local election vote-counting broadcast.

According to Yonhap News on May 11, Kim is scheduled to appear on MBC's "Choice 2026," which will air on June 3, to discuss the significance of local elections. The broadcast will also feature science YouTuber "Gyedo" and French-born TV personality Fabien. Drawing on their own experiences, they will address the issues of population concentration in the metropolitan area and the risk of regional extinction.

YouTube channel 'Kim Suntae'

Previously, Kim attracted attention by promoting Chungju City through bold, so-called "B-grade sensibility" content on the YouTube channel "ChungTV." Departing from the usual rigid and formal government PR style, he actively incorporated various memes into his content, earning "ChungTV" recognition as a leading local government promotion channel. Kim began his public service career in October 2016 as a level-9 official and was promoted to level-6 officer in just seven years, thanks to his achievements with the YouTube channel. This is considered unusual, given that it typically takes about 15 years to advance from level-9 to level-6.

However, he retired from public service in February and soon launched a personal YouTube channel, "Kim Seontae," introducing companies and brands. The channel surpassed 1 million subscribers within just three days of its launch, and it currently boasts approximately 1.66 million subscribers.

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