On the 19th, when an arrest warrant was issued for President Yoon Suk-yeol, far-right YouTubers stormed the Western District Court with protestors, damaging government property and causing chaos. Some YouTubers who incited the riot even live-streamed the scene. Their agitation is partly due to the fact that fervent support for President Yoon directly translates into sponsorship income.

Political YouTubers share their sponsorship account numbers on their channels to receive donations. Before gathering at the Western District Court, they live-streamed the rally in Hannam-dong with multiple cameras, attempting to rally their supporters for this very reason. Woo Soon (52), a political YouTuber, explained about the income structure of political YouTubers, "Live broadcasting is essential. The live footage can later be edited into videos, and it significantly increases the number of subscribers," adding, "Especially during live streaming, viewers often send Super Chats (donations), which directly contributes to revenue."

YouTuber Woo Soon

"Live streaming is essential"
"Especially viewers often send donations during live broadcasts, which helps generate direct revenue"

YouTuber Jung Yonghee

"When capturing the scene, extreme situations often occur, and at those times, donations also surge"

Jung Yonghee (43), who runs a personal political YouTube channel, also said, "When you cover political events on video, extreme situations often occur, and that's when viewer donations surge".

After President Yoon's arrest, far-right YouTubers who had enjoyed sponsorship income found themselves in a difficult situation. One far-right YouTuber, whose donations had reached the billion-won range, confessed, "Since President Yoon's arrest, I've received so many protest messages that I can't even check my texts. Some major sponsors have even threatened my life. Honestly, I feel like I want to return the donations."

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 delegating the execution of the arrest warrant to the police. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

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Popular political YouTube channels have between 1.5 and 1.8 million subscribers, with monthly views ranging from 20 to 30 million, and in some cases, up to 90 million. Political and current affairs YouTube channels with millions of subscribers are making huge profits by using the impeachment crisis as content.

The conservative camp, which has rallied around the 'Taegeukgi Rally,' is now dominated by individual YouTube channels that grew rapidly during the martial law crisis. As far-right YouTubers were cited as a background for President Yoon's December 3 martial law declaration, the atmosphere at these rallies, led by YouTubers, became even more intense.

Progressive YouTubers, meanwhile, have raised their voices from the opposite side of the protest sites, agreeing that far-right YouTubers play a major role in rallying President Yoon's supporters. One political content creator said, "Most of the supporters at rallies in front of the presidential residence used to be in their 70s and 80s, but over time, more young people started to appear. There is a lot of talk that far-right YouTube channels are actively attracting the younger generation."