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YouTube and the Trend Toward Confirmation

"Media News Is Fake"... A Look Into the YouTube Channel Watched by the President

Yonhap News
Yonhap News

[YouTube and Confirmation Bias]② What Content Appears on Kim Bosu and Kim Jinbo Channels?
Kim Bosu: "Yoon's Arrest Was Illegal from the Start" · "Protesters Are Chinese Part-Timers"
Kim Jinbo: "If Yoon's Arrest Fails, the CIO Is Also Complicit" · "Protesters Are Elderly Part-Timers"


Asia Economy established Kim Jinbo and Kim Bosu YouTube accounts, training the algorithm as if watching videos matching their respective political leanings. What stories are being exchanged in these two worlds created by YouTube? We analyzed the content being spread among divided political supporters through the recommended videos on both accounts. The analysis focused on videos from individual political YouTubers, excluding news from established media outlets. What does the 'political Tower of Babel' built by YouTube look like?

Most of the individual political YouTube channels recommended to the Kim Jinbo and Kim Bosu accounts were dealing with issues related to the arrest of President Yoon Suk-yeol. Channels such as 'Seong Changkyung TV', 'Lee Bongkyu TV', and 'Seo Jungwook TV'?which appear in the Kim Bosu account?are mostly run by figures classified as having far-right political tendencies. These far-right YouTubers argue that the arrest of President Yoon was illegal from the outset. They claim that the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) filed the arrest warrant with the Western District Court instead of the Central District Court, which constitutes a jurisdictional violation and thus makes the warrant illegal, rendering the arrest of President Yoon 'invalid'. Furthermore, they criticize the CIO for 'warrant shopping' and 'judge shopping', alleging that the agency is filing warrants wherever it is easiest to obtain approval.


On the other hand, individual YouTubers recommended to the Kim Jinbo account refuted the far-right claims, arguing, "Whether it's the Central or Western District Court, if there's a problem, the court simply won't issue a warrant. There's no issue at all." However, the CIO was also a target of criticism for them, with claims that since President Yoon appointed the head of the CIO, the agency is ultimately part of his support base. For example, when the first arrest attempt failed, YouTube commentators stated, "How could such an arrest plan fail? The CIO is basically complicit," and labeled them as "the epitome of incompetence."


Kim Bosu"Yoon's arrest was illegal from the start""The rally is staffed by Chinese part-timers"
Kim Bosu
"Yoon's arrest was illegal from the start"
"The rally is staffed by Chinese part-timers"
Kim Jinbo
"If Yoon's arrest fails, the Corruption Investigation Office is in cahoots"
"The rally is staffed by elderly part-timers"

On the eve of President Yoon's arrest, the 14th, rumors spread that the arrest team would soon be deployed, and individual YouTubers' live broadcast cameras were busy rolling. YouTubers recommended to the Kim Bosu account claimed that the CIO would fail in executing the second arrest warrant as well, returning empty-handed. A far-right YouTube channel guest said, "I'm someone who goes back and forth between police stations and headquarters often," adding, "Field investigators are exhausted from being mobilized for the arrest, so nothing like arresting the president will happen." In response, individual YouTubers recommended to the Kim Jinbo account focused on the atmosphere of division caused by unfair orders within the security service, emphasizing that forces blocking the arrest were complicit in illegal martial law.


YouTubers also made disparaging remarks about participants in impeachment rallies. Both sides argued that people were being paid to increase the number of rally participants. Individual YouTubers recommended to the Kim Bosu account claimed, "Those participating in pro-impeachment rallies are Chinese nationals hired for money," and that "the lack of related news coverage is because established media outlets are already dominated by Chinese capital." They also asserted, "When a song with lyrics referencing Tiananmen is played at rallies, some people run away," and "there are people at the rallies using North Korean words not used in South Korea." On progressive YouTuber channels, a video was posted showing an elderly participant lying down at an anti-impeachment rally suddenly standing up upon hearing, "The CIO isn't coming today," accompanied by claims that "elderly people hired for money are participating in anti-impeachment rallies."


On the morning of January 3, as officials from the Corruption Investigation Office entered the presidential residence in Hannam-dong, Seoul, to execute an arrest warrant for President Yoon Sukyeol, his supporters gathered near the residence, holding Taegeukgi flags, American flags, and signs demanding verification of election fraud, chanting slogans.
On the 31st, when the court issued an arrest warrant for President Yoon Sukyeol, groups calling for the president's arrest and groups opposing the arrest confronted each other with the police in between near the presidential residence in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.
On the 6th, members of conservative groups gathered near the presidential residence in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, urging opposition to the arrest of President Yoon Seokyeol, following the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency's official letter stating that the execution of the arrest warrant for President Yoon would be entrusted to the police.

The perspectives of individual YouTubers on international relations also differed sharply according to political orientation. YouTubers featured on the Kim Bosu account spread pro-U.S. and anti-China messages without verifying facts. One conservative YouTuber video claimed, "President Yoon's arrest is a challenge to the United States, as warned by President-elect Trump." On YouTube channels popular among progressive supporters, messages spread such as, "In a photo of Kim Keonhee with Japanese architect Ando Tadao, there was a document case bearing the Korean government mark," suggesting that Kim Keonhee may have granted government project favors to Japan.


However, views on the media were similar among all individual YouTubers. They claimed that established media only reports fake news and sides with certain political forces. Videos on the Kim Bosu account argued, "Chosun Ilbo, JoongAng Ilbo, and DongA Ilbo have all been taken over by China, and DongA Ilbo is acting as an aide to Lee Jaemyung, leader of the Democratic Party," calling for a boycott of these newspapers. Individual YouTubers recommended to the Kim Jinbo account claimed that, except for some outlets classified as progressive, the media continues to protect President Yoon.

"Media News Is Fake"... A Look Into the YouTube Channel Watched by the President 원본보기 아이콘

YouTube Watched by the President... How Much Made It into the Presidential Statement?
Citizens are holding placards in protest near the residence in Hannam-dong.

Many of the recommended videos on the Kim Bosu YouTube account contained claims similar to those in President Yoon's official statement. Claims related to election fraud are representative.


In a handwritten letter presumed to have been written before his arrest on the 15th, President Yoon argued, "A huge number of fake ballots were discovered during the vote count of the election lawsuit, and the National Election Commission's computer system is defenseless against hacking and manipulation. They are refusing to verify and confirm whether the announced number of voters matches the actual number of voters."


Subsequently, recommended videos on the Kim Bosu account included claims that spies were caught at the Election Commission and transported to the U.S. military base in Okinawa, Japan. "On the day of martial law, nine Chinese spies were arrested at the Election Commission training center in Suwon and transferred to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek. From there, they were shipped to the U.S. Marine base in Naha, Okinawa. It was confirmed that a U.S. Navy transport ship docked in Naha at 7 p.m. on the 4th. Calculating backwards, it matches a departure from Pyeongtaek Port before 4 a.m. on the 4th."


Some YouTubers even claimed in their personal broadcasts that they had appealed these election fraud suspicions to the president's side, and after much effort, convinced the president. "I became convinced that the April 10 general election was a fraudulent election. I requested that materials related to the fraudulent election, saved on a USB drive, be delivered directly to the president," they said.

Editor's NoteWe live in an era where people search for information on YouTube before portal sites. The YouTube algorithm, which recommends only videos matching users' interests, is deepening confirmation bias regarding political and social issues. Individual YouTubers, divided into the far right and far left and gathering their supporters, are showing us a particular political world. But can we really trust the world they show? Are we only seeing what we want to believe on YouTube due to the filter bubble created by the algorithm? Asia Economy set out to verify this.
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